It's Only Fun Until
by VodkandCoke
Summary: BeeSam, BarricadeSam, PAST!HideWill. 10 years after the war for the Allspark things have settled down. Or have they? With the arrival of three new sparklings things are getting a little hectic and Sam's relationship with Bee and Barricade is heating up!
1. It's Only Fun Until

**A/n from Muse: For those who watch my journal and are not apart of the ****beexsam**** community...shakes head Don't ask. It was suppose to be a tension reliever from my shitty week of AnalTim and summer classes but the RP grew, as it usually does when it involves me. If the pairing doesn't scare you off (nothing too graphic mentioned) then its a fun and light read. You never know...**

**Chapter One: It's Only Funny Until...******

Roleplay Fiction by Museofslytherin and **technodoofus******

Rated: Pg-13

Barricade was about as twitchy as Frenzy was, considering the pair was in the farming lands of northern California at the soldier's house, enduring the emotional reunion of the Autobots and their humans. To ensure they remained undetected, the transformers were ushered into a cramp storage facility called a barn that had been expanded to compensate for visiting Autobots but the human, Lennox, hadn't planned for the appearance of a still operational Barricade and a healed Frenzy. The retired Decepticon didn't like the situation, feeling exposed in this rural area, but he wouldn't give up time with his offspring and the unlikely human that brought it into existence. The powers of the Allspark still befuddled Barricade's processor but instead of letting it freeze up his systems, he merely dismissed it.

The mutterings of Frenzy refocused Barricade's optics on the scene before and he tilted his head in inquiry as he watched the lightweight hacker chase after his offspring, Ravage, in what the humans referred to as a "friendly game of tag". Whatever helps discharge that pent up energy of his, Barricade thought, maybe he'll stop tearing up my upholstery.

Meanwhile, not so far off from where Barricade watched his offspring, the other Autobots and humans were also looking on at the scene in amusement. Will Lennox watched as his daughter- well OTHER daughter, Cera, stood staring at the cows in amazement, as if they were the most interesting creatures on this side of the planet. "Hey Ironhide," Will looked over at the weapons specialist before continuing. "Cera is staring way too hard at those cows for comfort; think she's going to shoot them like she did the crows?"

Moments passed in silence as Ironhide performed simple scans, taking in his daughter's stance, gaze and other body signals, before answering, "Would that be a bad thing?" The tone was honest and disturbingly, dead serious.

Will sighed in exasperation, "Yes, that would be a bad thing if she plans to blow it up into a million pieces!" No sooner had the words left his mouth, than a loud explosion racked the whole farm, followed by a victorious battle cry.

Will's eyes narrowed, "You're dealing with it this time, Ironhide."

Maintaining the posture of a proud parent, Ironhide placated the human with a nod, as he had seen Will do with his mate, and walked over to his daughter and the crater where the bovine had once been. Apparently there were different classes of cows according to the humans: ones to eat and ones to keep alive. To be on the safe side, Ironhide figured he would have Cera put cows in the same classification as Chihuahuas, as pets.

Hearing the explosion, little Ravage had ended the fun program and adopted a seek shelter, namely behind his parental unit, aware of the fact that besides Barricade and Frenzy, he is considered an outsider to the rest of the Cybertronians and wouldn't doubt for a moment that the weak truce would evaporate.

He waited a few cycles of auditory scans and when no follow-up explosions came forth, the silver robot took a chance to look at the source of the noise. The weapons Autobot was talking to his offspring and pointing at a new hole. Wasn't there a hoofed animal there before? A cow or something similar? Ravage looked up at his 'father' and only got a simple shake of the head in disbelief.

A flash of silver caught his optics, as Frenzy bolted past him and restarted the tag game again, only for it to end quickly when they came across Bumblebee and Ravage's other creator, Sam Witwicky.

Sam smiled at Ravage, his second son. Although his relationship was faulty and his son was wary of him, Sam nonetheless tried to form at least a bond of friendship with the boy. "Hey Ravage, having fun?" Sam asked referring to the game of tag he had been playing with Frenzy.

Frenzy stood next to his ward, giving the human the evil eye. It was only under orders from Barricade that Frenzy didn't attempt to gouge Sam Witwicky's eyes out by now.

If Ravage had shirttails, he would be tugging on them out of nervousness when Sam addressed him. He knew he had nothing to fear from his human father but that didn't reassure the four-foot bot that Bumblebee wouldn't inflict damage somehow. Ravage, keeping the yellow Autobot in the corner of his optics, focused on his smaller father, answering respectively, "Yes, father." Noticing that his playmate's normal vibrations were becoming more noticeable and that the cool blue optics were focused on Sam, the youngest robot sharply nudged the hacker to break him out of his trance. "Um, we were actually going to, um, go out to the fields and, uh, use Frenzy's discs as target practice." Barricade's internal formatting berated the child for hesitating but some of Sam's personality quirks can't be completely erased.

Sam nodded, "Well that's cool, have fun and don't get hurt." He said honestly. He liked the boy, he really did, but he really didn't like being too close when Frenzy was around. The robot always looked like he wanted to murder him.

Frenzy began walking away from the group, preparing for the practice, all the while thinking up cruel images of what he would do to the pathetic fleshling if Megatron was still alive and in charge.

Meanwhile, as Ironhide was lecturing Cera about how her other creator did not appreciate her blowing up the other earth life, no matter what the excuse, she blocked him out when the words "target practice" reached her audio sensors. Without even waiting for Ironhide to finish speaking she ran over to Ravage and began jumping up and down excitedly, "Oh-oh, target practice!! Can I play?! Huh huh can I?!"

Ravage wasn't used to the role of authority, usually occupied by either of his creators or one of the other Cybertronians when in Sam's care, and he floundered when bombarded by the exuberant mini-jet. Red optics quickly scanned for an answer, landing on the most dangerous authority, the trigger-happy father, Ironhide. The weapons specialist had quickly adjusted to his daughter's new location and seeing whom she was with, started for them.

Barricade logically understood the situation and left his reclusive spot in the barn to come to his offspring's aide.

Shuffling in the direction of his approaching guardian, Ravage quickly glanced to Frenzy and back to the older child, "I guess if it's alright with Ironhide."

Cera quickly spun around, and ran over to her father. "Father! Can I pleeeeeeeeeease, please please play with Ravage and Frenzy?!" She asked in a sing-song voice, her eyes, wide in hope.

Will who had been watching the whole scenario from the beginning leaned against the side of the house, waiting for Ironhide's answer to their overly hype daughter. He grinned recalling the time when Cera had first became increasingly twitchy and hyped up for just about everything. Ironhide had immediately taken her to Ratchet to find out what was wrong, and was infuriated, to say the least, when they had figured out that Frenzy, the little pest, had downloaded "cookies" into Cera's system. And try as he might, Ratchet only managed to take out a few of the glitches, making Cera somewhat calmer, and had to admit solemnly that the other cookies were permanent and to just get used to it.

Ironhide gave a pretty good imitation of a disgruntled look to his daughter, recalling the episode with Frenzy and those accursed "cookies" that had Cera breaking the sound barrier in her robot form. Eyeing the diminutive Decepticon, he barely canceled the directive for his frame to shutter in disgust at what possible games the twisted Decepticons could think up to play but it would be nice for his child to have a distraction, one that spared the lives of the earth animals. "Yes, you can but as long as you stay within visual distance. Understood?"

"BWUAHA!", Cera cried out, pumping her fists in the air, "Understood father!" She saluted before crying out a series of thank you's. She began running toward Frenzy and did a flip in mid-air, transforming into her jet form, flying at about 60 mph before transforming back, and landing on her hands and knees on top of the little bot.

Frenzy let out a surprised squawk when the earth below him shook and the light was blocked replaced by an overly-hyper face staring down at him, and let out an indignant growl when the child had the gall to laugh at him and call him "squawker." It was times like these that Frenzy regretted the cookie incident.

Bumblebee laughed at the little Decepticon's situation, fully believing it was deserved.

A mix of an engine's low growl and the grinding noise of a large mechanical hand emanated from Barricade, as he picked up the laughter from the Autobot and had no compunction in shoving the Camaro, as he walked by to be with Ravage in support. "Silence your voice processor, young one. I will not have my subordinate mocked by the likes of you." He redirected his scanners to the group of small robots that were a distance away and already shooting alternately at the metal discs shot out by Frenzy. The cop car would have smirked if he had the lips when he overhead the human parent of Ravage verbally hold off a retort from the Autobot.

Sam sighed; he honestly couldn't stand the Decepticon. If it wasn't for Ravage's sake, he himself would have told off Barricade, but bit his tongue and used his energy to hold back Bumblebee who had looked like he was ready to pummel Barricade.

Frenzy growled in annoyance and satisfaction; annoyance at the fact that the spawn of the Autobot had yet to miss a disk, and satisfaction because Ravage also, had yet to miss.

It wasn't long before the competitive streaks of an inherent Decepticon and the daughter of a weapons specialist soon attracted an audience, the respective families cheering on their child. Ravage let out a squeak of surprise when a small fragment of shrapnel deflected from a hit disc embedded itself near one of the robot's optics, severing a wire far enough to cut off transmission and partially blinding him. As quickly as it started, the target practice was over when Ratchet was summoned to make the necessary repairs and inevitably had to shove the hovering Barricade out of the way.

Sam looked on worriedly, not that he had any doubts in Ratchet's abilities, but still his paternal instincts kicked in, as he watched the scene, biting his lip.

Cera pulled up beside Ratchet, "Is he going to be ok?" she asked worriedly, shocking most of the ones present at the scene.

Shooting a warning glance at Barricade's "he better be" threat, Ratchet carefully removed the shard of metal with steady patience and a minute tool extending from his fingertips. Magnifying the view by four times to ensure that there was nothing left, the medic replied absently with a 'yes', as he spot-welded the wiring back together and restored the insulation protecting the transmission lines. Ratchet pulled back from hovering over his small patient and after telling Ravage to restore power, was pleased to hear that his work was successful. "I believe that's why humans make their target discs out of clay and not metal: less casualties," he commented in an elderly fashion.

Sitting up, Ravage noticed all the gazes were focused on him and utilized his human father's habit of breaking tension with words, saying, "Sorry for worrying everyone." Looking at anything that wasn't the anticipated look of disappointment on Barricade's face for the apology, a sign of weakness, Ravage settled on the one who had worried about him in the first place, looking at Cera, "I guess you won."

"Meh, you got hurt, I call a do-over." She shrugged casually. "So you're feeling better, right?" Cera giggled, "If you want to blame anyone, blame squawker, he has bad aim." she turned to look at Frenzy, "You.phail.at.life. with a capital PH!"

Frenzy flicked a finger in her direction before stalking off, grumbling to himself.

Not having the bravado of either of his fathers, Ravage didn't make a snide comment in return but quickly righted himself to follow his closest companion, shouting over his plated shoulder, "He's my family and we can't have a 'do-over' without him." His towering creator shadowed him, since he found no other purpose in lingering with the Autobots.

Cera growled. "What a JERK. Gosh I didn't want to make him feel bad by rubbing it in his face that I won and that I am obviously superior to him!" She crossed her arms, "Loser," she muttered. "I'm going to go shoot some squirrels. They're scary."

"Cera," Ironhide admonished, "Leave the animals alone."

"B-but the squirrels!!!" She flailed her arms, "They're eviiiiil. They just stare at you, with like this hidden evil murderous...uh...rage! Go to and see how decieving they are! They're like small furry cuter versions of a Decepticon...well everything is cuter than a Decepticon..but still!:"

"The creatures of this world are not meant to be slaughtered for our amusement, Cera," Optimus ended the subject with his final decree. The tallest of the Autobots quietly watched the distancing Decepticons, with Barricade following closely behind Ravage in a shielding manner while the smaller bots talked between them. Optimus didn't think the violent Barricade was capable of benevolent actions, let alone parental ones. After the discovery of Sam's ability to successfully mate with and carry the offspring of a Cybertronian, with Mumble's birth, the Autobots became overly protective of the boy. And with good reason, as the presence of a new Autobot drew Barricade and Frenzy out of hiding and Optimus feared that they planned on using Sam as a production factory in creating a new Decepticon Army.

Optimus' fears were realized when Sam was kidnapped while Bee was on an assignment outside of California. Sam had been missing for several months, leaving the parents distraught despite the Decepticons' positive messages about Sam's well being sent to the Autobots on a weekly basis. Just before the Fall semester of college started, on the 14th week, a seemingly healthy Sam returned home with an unbelievable story. The Autobot leader feared that Sam's second 'child' would be conditioned by Barricade into another Megatron but was surprised when he received a communication wishing for a truce on the behalf of Sam's desire to see Ravage occasionally. Ten years later and a few squabbles endured, the truce is still maintained between the two sides.

Sam walked over to Optimus, "Hey, Optimus, when are Jazz and Mumble coming back from their mission down in Nevada?" He sighed sadly. It had been two months since he had seen his first-born son due to the scout mission he had been sent on with Jazz to see if they could find any other Autobots that might have gotten Optimus' message.

"In a few days. They need to recon. the Lake Tahoe area before returning to California." The red Autobot noticed the worry radiating off the teen and added, "Bumblebee should be keeping tabs on Mumble continuously, if I know him, at least when he's not trying to pick a fight with Barricade."

Sam smiled and nodded his head, "true..."

Meanwhile at the barn, Frenzy was pacing angrily his hands twitching, dying to claw something- or someone's optics out. His body shook in rage before he blasted one of the walls, which remained unharmed, other then a scorch mark. "I-I-I hate that g-g-gurl!!"

Ravage could only watch as the slender bot took out his rage on the barn, not wanting to be part of the collateral damage when Frenzy went into a red haze of destruction. "We don't need her, Frenzy, so don't let what she said get to you," he said from the sidelines.

Frenzy hissed, "B-b-but it's ANNOYING!" he screeched, putting emphasis on the "annoying" as he blasted a pile of hay in the far corner. "Wh-why can't I-I-I kill the little m-m-monster!" he looked up at Barricade imploringly.

"No. She may be a virus but has to be tolerated the few times we're here, if we wish to keep the truce. I can barely tolerate half the Autobots here but it must be done so that Ravage can visit with the human." Eyeing the smoldering pile of ash that use to be a hay pile, Barricade reconsidered, "Perhaps we can come to an agreement of Sam Witwicky visiting alone. The ten years of peace should be enough to prove our 'good intentions'." The last pair of words was sneered in remnant disgust. The actions he performed for the sake of his young spark.

Frenzy snarled, "Y-y-you know as well as I th-that Prime would n-n-not allow i-i-it!" he began pacing again, "H-h-he doesn't trust you, I overheard him mentioning it t-t-to the medic."

"Doesn't surprise me," the cop car responded evenly, rubbing Ravage's back with a curled finger and trying to ease the tension. His offspring no doubt felt torn between loyalty to Frenzy and wanting to bond with his human father.

Barricade held no files of hate for the boy but actually felt a tingle of admiration for him after hearing about his final acts with Megatron. Not even Optimus Prime, honored leader of the Autobots, had the nerve for what the human did but instead took the coward's way out by 'sacrificing' himself and destroying the Cube but leaving the others to face Megatron on their own.

"And I have no real inclination of tolerating that immature Autobot, Bumblebee, either, who I'm sure will not leave the human's side. Not after that last time," Barricade said cryptically as he settled his optics on Ravage.

Meanwhile, as the other Autobots were trying to enjoy the remainder of the reunion/barbeque, Cera and Ironhide stood off to the side, with Cera sitting under the large oak tree staring at the ground uncharacteristically silent for a long time before speaking up. "Daddy...do you think I'm sick?" she asked quietly.

Ironhide reflexively looked down at the oddity of his daughter's question. "No. Rachet would inform me if he found something in his initial scans every time the three of us meet. Why do you ask?"

"No, I mean mentally not physically...I've been doing some research, and according to the web, shooting innocent creatures for fun is wrong, and not normal..."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that there's something wrong with you. A lot of human children enjoy the burning of ants with a magnifying lens. It's a phase. As you get older, you will learn to respect all life, as I did when I was younger." Ironhide paraphrased what he had quickly skimmed on the net about this issue.

At this Cera perked up, "Oh well that's helpful...but still I feel so guilty. It's not like the creatures have ever done anything to deserve it. They're just there...minding their own business. After I blew up the cow today I thought of it's family...and I immediately regretted it, because I thought to myself, how would I feel if someone did that to someone I cared about. It wasn't a good feeling, I was very sad for some time after that but I got over it like I usually do."

He nodded, "These emotions are what develop your sense of respect towards life and what separates an Autobot from a Decepticon, who have no consideration for such things." Ironhide's tone shifted to conditioned disgust.

"Ah, but does that mean that there is a plausible chance that when Ravage grows older, he will lose respect towards life and turn into a Decepticon? After all, even though Sam is such a kind person, Ravage follows his father more than anything and he might develop his father's views."

Ironhide reproduced a sigh, "I don't know, little one. Barricade himself doesn't follow the standard protocols of a Decepticon. He has not out rightly harmed anyone of us, Autobot or human, and has kept us accurately informed on the whereabouts of Starscream. The fact that he is willing to allow Ravage to have contact with the others, especially Sam, has to say something about the unlikelihood of Ravage owing his allegiance to the Decepticons. All I can suggest is that we keep Ravage feeling welcomed, as well as the other two Decepticons, to prevent them from breaking the truce."

"I don't know why Ravage is cross with me, I was only trying to make him feel better about losing..." she crossed her arms, "Emotions are so troublesome...I'm glad I have them and wouldn't give them up, but sometimes they truly are more trouble then they're worth..."

The large torso of Ironhide vibrated with replicated laughter. "You'll learn to manage them soon. As for Ravage, I would guess that he doesn't appreciate others 'making fun' of his friends, especially to make him feel better. Other than Barricade, that Frenzy is the only constant companion the boy has; a lonely existence indeed. If you don't want Ravage upset with you, you must pay attention to who you insult." The Autobot really hoped that the Dr. Phil he was referencing knows what he's talking about.

Cera giggled, "You know what? I honestly don't like Dr. Phil, and yes I know you're referencing him, but when you say it instead of him it really helps. When he says it I want to beat him over the head with a rock. This little talk really helped sort things out, thank you." Cera said, standing up and jumping on top of Ironhide's shoulder, finding a comfortable sitting spot there.

"I'm glad," he said, tilting his head towards her to gently rest against her frame. It was a human trait of affection he had no problem copying. "Do you want to stay here or rejoin the group?"

Cera shook her head, purring slightly in content, "No, not yet I like it here."

Somewhere deep within, Ironhide hummed in agreement.

With the target practice scare quickly fading from sentient minds', Bumblebee once again did a systems check on Mumble, reassuring his circuits that his child was fine while away from his protective presence. Disregarding Jazz's snide comment of being a 'mother hen', Bee severed the link with the other Autobot and focused back on his human charge.

Sam, who had been resting against Bee's leg looked up, somehow knowing that Bee had just checked up on Mumble. "Mumble's okay I take it?" Sam asked hopefully. He didn't like being an overly protective or worrisome parent, but when it came to his kids he just couldn't help but want to make sure that they were okay every moment.

Bee replied with a nod, noticing Sam's hesitant demeanor and rubbed the boy's side gently with a single finger. The young robot was still amazed at Sam's ability to adapt to any situation, no matter how bizarre it was to the human mind. Granted, it had taken him, and even the Autobots, a couple of months to fully grasp the situation of a male human pregnant with an autonomous robotic organism. It was the older robots, primarily Optimus and Ratchet, that suggested the theory of the Allspark, with all its years of close human contact, had been aware enough of its eminent peril and had reacted in a self-preserving manner. With the close bond between guardian and charge, the Cube engendered Sam's body based on Bee's transforming capabilities when Autobot handed the boy the Allspark in Mission City, allowing him to safely have bio-mechanical children.

Bee didn't care about the why or the how, just so long as Sam was safe and healthy. Three and a half months later and Mumble was born, the Allspark's residual energy changed the boy's body allowing him to have their child naturally, as the humans called it. Unlike human children, Mumble was self-sufficient at birth and able to communicate immediately with Bee through Wi-Fi until he had mastered the English language in the next hour. Both Autobots and human were grateful, as they were unsure of the exact methods of caring for the hybrid child, never having encountered anything of this nature.

It would only be a few months later when a message from Ironhide, in something remotely similar to panic, told the Autobots of a repeat episode with Captain Lennox. Apparently Sam wasn't the only one affected by the Cube but Lennox was on a lesser degree, his bond with Ironhide not as strong as Sam and Bee's. Another fourteen weeks passed and Cera was born. It was more than the Autobots had expected after the destruction of the Allspark.

Sam sighed happily as Bee rubbed his side, as he got lost in his own thoughts. He remembered how he felt when he first realized he had been pregnant as if it had been yesterday. It was strange; he didn't get morning sickness like a normal human pregnancy did. It wasn't painful, just...weird, as the only word Sam could think of. His insides felt like they were twisting and turning. When he confronted Bee about it, Bee's answer freaked the hell out of him. After a simple scan Bumblebee remained silent for a few minutes before solemnly telling Sam that he had a living being inside him.

Sam's mouth dropped, he tried to laugh, thinking it was some twisted joke, but deep down he knew Bee wouldn't joke about something like this, and his fears were confirmed after a checkup with Ratchet. Sam remembered fainting after that and waking up several hours later, asking "why and how" over and over. Ratchet had given him his theory on how it happened and even Optimus had agreed. After that Sam somehow managed to accept it without as much protest as everyone would have thought, but he took it like a true Witwicky should.

However, his only fear were his parents. How would they handle the news? Simply thinking about it sent him trembling in fear. His mom would attempt to hurt Bee with the same bat she had threatened Sector 7 with and his father would be appalled. He didn't have to worry about it though since it was Optimus who volunteered to calmly break the news to his parents. As Sam had predicted it had not been pretty, and it was only under Optimus' strict orders that Sam had not been disowned and kicked out of the house. After Mumble was born things went from hectic to calm, Sam's parents accepted Mumble as their grandchild and even spoiled and coddled him whenever they could.

When the news of another child born under these strange circumstances and under the parentage of Ironhide and Will Lennox, no less, everyone couldn't help but silently laugh to themselves when Ironhide was around. No one was gutsy enough to mock the weapons specialist, especially when he was going to use the pregnancy as an excuse to use his cannons more often then not.

Movement near the barn caught Bee's optics and he watched sourly as Sam's other child came out of hiding, followed by Barricade and a weaving Frenzy. The yellow Autobot slowly tensed out of habit, as the trio approached him and Sam. Barricade stopped a short distance away, while Ravage continued his trek to stand close to Sam. Moments of heavy silence passed before the cop car voiced, "He wishes to spend time with you, Ladiesman Two-Seventeen." Bumblebee could have sworn on the Allspark itself that he could scan the teasing tone in Barricade's words, as he used the internet moniker the Decepticons had used to track down the human, as a loose nickname.

Sam rolled his eyes at the name that he was addressed by. "Would it kill you to call me Sam?" he sighed before grinning down at Ravage. "Alright, so what do you want to do?" he said as he stood up straight, stretching a bit to loosen up his muscles from being in the same position for so long.

Barricade closed the distance between him and the other Cybertronian, locking red and blue optics, "I don't think your guardian would care for it too much if I did. And besides, I enjoy the responses you make when I address you as such. Especially the ones when it was just you and me for those fourteen weeks." The Decepticon now directed his words at his one-time enemy, "I heard you were worried about Sam while in my care. Was it because you feared he would prefer me over you?" The red glow darkened in resemblance of lowered lids in self-satisfaction.

Channeling Sam's closeness into a calming code, Bumblebee fought the instinctive directive of letting his face guards slide into place for impending battle whenever a Decepticon was nearby. Especially Barricade. Optimus had Megatron and Bee had Barricade; equally matched and forever locked in battle it would seem. For once not succumbing to the taunt, Bee went the verbal route; "It was because of your generous care towards Sam that I don't render you into scrap, like I did last time."

Sam sighed and put his hand on his forehead in exasperation. It was a normal occurrence, the fathers of his children quarreling, but that didn't mean it never got any less annoying. Rolling his eyes once more Sam walked over to Ravage, and nodded his head in the direction of the nearby pond and began walking there, to spend time with his son alone without the fighting for once.

Scans confirming that the two were out of distance, Barricade shifted his programming to be less volatile, backing away from the Autobot. Looking down at the silver and sleek bot, he said, "Frenzy, keep an eye on them and make sure they don't over hear our conversation with Prime." Barricade redirected his sights back to Bumblebee, "We need to talk. Follow me." Without waiting for a response, he rotated his hip gears to point him in the direction of the Autobot leader.

Bumblebee nodded, and began walking towards Optimus, wondering what the Decepticon could possibly want that would involve both him and Prime. The more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him that Barricade might try to convince Optimus to let Sam visit him, or something as insane as that. Well Bumblebee's optics narrowed slightly, he'd be damned if the Decepticon would get to be a minute alone with his human.

The cop car experienced one of the rare times of gratefulness when the Autobot followed him without question. It happened again when he sighted Prime alone for once during the whole session of the gathering.

Coming to a halt in front of the tall soldier, Barricade simply stated, "Prime" in acknowledgement, waiting for permission to speak. The blue head of Optimus nodded and he continued, "I've been tracking Starscream's travels through Decepticon channels and he has re-entered the gravitational influence of this planet's star. I sense others with him but without confirmation codes expressly given I cannot confirm whom exactly. Should Starscream learn of Sam Witwicky and Will Lennox's "unique" gifts, I fear their lives maybe in danger, if not simply from revenge of causing Megatron's offline state. I suggest we keep the humans close for the time being and even the younglings until I can learn of Starscream's intentions."

Bumblebee's optics widened, he hadn't been expecting this. Sam, Lennox and the younglings were in danger. After years of peace, though he would never admit it, he had grown accustomed to the calmness and had truly put in the back of his memory circuits how difficult and hard war was. What feared him most however was the fact that he hadn't been keeping himself in top shape and now the realization that Starscream was returning; he was worried that when the time came he wouldn't be able to take care of his family.

Optimus caught the change in Bumblebee's demeanor and felt similarly. All the Autobots believed the war to be over with the destruction of the Allspark and the leader of the Decepticons. Apparently that would not be so. The leader centered his attention on the unlikely messenger, "And why should we trust your information? This could be nothing more than a Decepticon ploy because the last time Starscream was a leader, you were loyal to him."

Barricade waved a dismissive hand at the attack of his loyalties, "I'm loyal to the cause, not the leader. Starscream was the leader of the Decepticons at the time we came across the human spacecraft four decades ago. My mission parameters have changed. I exist to protect Ravage and Sam Witwicky by association. Should Starscream or any other Decepticon prove to be a threat, I will terminate them without hesitation."

Bumblebee's optics widened slightly at the Decepticon's words.

He had expected Barricade to protect his offspring, but to actually consider protecting Sam at any costs...well that surprised the young Autubot. Maybe he isn't such a cold sparkless jerk, Bumblebee thought.

The humming and purring of Optimus' internals were the only sounds emitted from the leader, as he dissected Barricade's information. Seeing the dedication of the Decepticon towards Ravage and his wants, the Autobot leader couldn't fault the validity of his words but as the humans say, old habits die hard. Barricade's compliance to the truce could merely be a survival tactic until reinforcements could arrive, such as now but Optimus couldn't compute a reason for being informed of Starscream's arrival. Looking between his youngest comrade and his unlikely ally, Optimus asked, "What do you suggest we do?"

Barricade was quick to respond, military strategy being his forte. "Ironhide and Bumblebee keep a twenty-four/seven vigil on their respective humans and sparklings. Jazz, as the more covert of the remaining Autobots, be assigned to Sam's parents while he's away at the university. Frenzy will stay with Ravage and they will stay with you Autobots while I infiltrate Starscream's forces to learn of his plans. I will relay any new information to Frenzy on the Decepticon wavelength in cryptic messages, as to give the appearance that I'm working on betraying you should it come to that. As you say, the last time Starscream was in charge, I was loyal to him; that should be enough cover to get me in."

Bumblebee nodded in agreement, although he didn't like the Decepticon by nature he couldn't help but admit that when it came to strategy, he truly was good at what he did.

**A/n: RP between me and museofslytherin based off of this bit of fanart: **

**http://community. Museofslytherin (God bless her for her patience with my typos XD)**

**Muse:**

1. Barricade  
2. Ravage  
3. Bee  
4. Optimus Prime  
5. Ratchet  
6. Ironhide  
7. Sarah Lennox  
8. Trent  
9. Scorponok (in future chapters)

Techno Doofus

1. Sam  
2. Mumble  
3. Cera  
4. Jazz  
5. Will  
6. Frenzy  
7. Annabelle Lennox  
8. Starscream (in future chapters) 


	2. Someone Gets Hurt

**Chapter Two: Someone Gets Hurt...**

Roleplay Fiction by Museofslytherin and **technodoofus**

Rated Pg-13

Meanwhile, far off from where the Autobots and Barricade planned and discussed the important issue of Starscream, Ravage and Sam stood at the edge of the pond, staring at the still water in quiet for several minutes before Sam broke the awkward silence, "Soooo what do you do for fun?"

Looking up at his human father, Ravage answered softly, some what embarrassed, "I like to listen to Father tell about Cybertron before Megatron corrupted it and of when he talks about you."

Sam blushed not expecting that particular answer, "O-oh...what does he say- well if you can tell, if he told you not to tell I understand..." he gulped nervously not really expecting what to hear.

Ravage's red optics glowed brighter with his response, his mood becoming livelier. "He told me about how you stood up to Megatron; something that only Optimus Prime had the courage to do." The young robot unconsciously started to add hand gestures as he got to the more action-oriented stories. "Father says that it was when he saw you turn on your own kind to help Bumblebee in the rain canal that he re-evaluated his outlook on you. He says that it's why he didn't participate in the Final Battle. Humans possess worthier traits than the Decepticons, especially Megatron. No honor." Ravage nodded with conviction except for when he mentioned Decepticons with distaste. "Father is really sorry about what happened when you two first met, though he won't tell me why..." he trailed off, hoping to have the ending finished by Sam.

Sam grinned sheepishly, "Wow...never thought I'd hear that...your dad isn't such a bad guy, at least I don't think so. The others don't trust him, but I do...Don't know why but there's something about him..." Sam trailed off, looking off into the distance and letting his mind wander. After several minutes he shook his head to stop his musing. "Ever hear of paintball?" he randomly asked.

Red optics dimmed in irritation at the change of subject and why Ravage wasn't privy to knowing how his creators first met. Must be a sore point, he thought. Going with it for the time being, Ravage tilted his head in curiosity, as to why his father would ask him such a redundant question. He was permanently connected to the internet and could be more knowledgeable on any subject than his human father in seconds. "Of course. It's a popular activity advertised on the web. Why?"

Sam chuckled to himself at his stupidity. "Sorry, forgot you have 24/7 internet access." He shrugged, "I don't know, it's totally random...fun game, hurts like hell and leaves marks but it's worth it. I used to play a lot as a kid, when I was around twelve. Me and a couple of friends would go off to the arenas and shoot at each other like psychos." Sam laughed, remembering his childhood. "We should do it one day..."

Ravage nodded in distraction, as his sensors picked up the familiar signature of Mumble but according to his Father, they weren't due back for a few days, being somewhere in Nevada. The high performance engine of Jazz soon supported the signature's owner and Ravage focused back on Sam, "Mumble and Jazz are back."

Sam sat up straight, "What?! Are you serious?!" He quickly scrambled to his feet, "But I thought they wouldn't be back for a few more days." His eyes lit up in happiness, "Come on; let's go meet them." Sam jogged over to where Mumble and Jazz had transformed near everyone else.

"Yo, what's kicken?" Jazz winked, looking around for Sam. "Boy, Sam's excited. I knew this would be a good surprise," he chuckled to himself, as the boy ran over and hugged Mumble, asking him insanely fast questions on how he had been, etc., etc.

During all this, over by the tree where Cera and Ironhide were sharing a moment, they picked up on the new signatures that had just arrived. Cera jumped up excitedly, "Yay uncle Jazz is back!!" she jumped off Ironhide's shoulder doing a flip in the air and transforming into her jet mode, flying at full speed before transforming back and hugging Jazz's leg.

Despite being in on the whole early arrival surprise for Sam, Bumblebee still broke rank and abandoned the battle discussion between Optimus and Barricade to greet his child; always relieved to see the safety of Mumble in person rather than trusting a scan or message. He knelt down beside his family, happy to have it whole once more, and listened to Mumble's account of his travels.

In a more subtle fashion, Barricade welcomed the small return of his offspring with a simple movement of his arm to allow the young robot to get closer to him. Looking up at Optimus, he gave a discreet dismissal, "I'm sure you would like to hear Jazz's report of his recon. mission, so I won't hold you up anymore."

Optimus gave a curt nod before leaving the Decepticon and joining up with his smallest comrade. On encrypted communication links, barred from the sparklings prying sensors, he broadcasted the information Barricade provided and informed them on the attack plan, permitting Ironhide to include Lennox, should drastic measures need to be taken.

Jazz nodded in affirmation, while patting Cera's head. "Hey kiddo." He caught site of the Decepticon not too far off from the rest of the group and gave only a curt nod in greeting before going over to Ratchet, after Cera had let go of his leg, to catch up on things he had missed, and of course for the medic to run a simple scan.

His plan been given the okay by Optimus Prime, Barricade knew that he only had a few days to enjoy the company of his progeny before departing to infiltrate Starscream's forces. Actions with a hefty price tag should Starscream prove to be as unstable as Barricade remembered him during the travels to find Megatron. No Decepticon knew where they stood with that maniac at the helm. The cop car noticed the fleeting glances between Ravage and the other family unit of Sam's and thought now to be the best time to approach the subject of the youngest sparkling staying with his step-family. Nudging Ravage in the desired direction, Barricade approached the reunion.

Mumble clung to Sam when he noticed Barricade and Ravage coming over. He liked Ravage, not only because Sam wanted them to get along, but he was a generally nice person to hang out with. However it was Ravage's creator, Barricade, that he feared. He knew they had a faulty alliance with the Decepticon but that didn't make him any less imposing, especially with the stories his other creator, Bumblebee, had told him about him.

At other times, Barricade would have taken pleasure in seeing the little Autobot quivering in fear at the sight of him but the years of Sam's presence have tempered his satisfaction circuits to the point where the fear left him unsettled. The Saleen transformer stopped abruptly, an idea coming to his CPU and he started his hologram program, presenting a white male in his early thirties with short, spiky black hair marked with white patches at the temples. Normally, red demonic eyes would glow with hate and anger but now they were a deep warm hue, welcoming as possible. With a parental hand on Ravage's back, he closed the gap between the two sides and greeted them with a curt nod. "I've been given an assignment by Prime and need to head out in a few days. Would it be acceptable if Ravage and Frenzy stayed with you all until my return?" he gave Bumblebee a knowing look.

Sam grinned from ear to ear, now was his chance to spend time with both kids at once! "Sure, this will be fun right Mumble?" Sam asked looking down at the boy who had just come out from behind him yet still stood next to him less scared than earlier.

Mumble nodded honestly, "Yes this will be fun." He looked over at Ravage, something akin to a smile on his face.

Nano-seconds worth of joy flooded Ravage's spark until he finally processed why he would be staying with his human father's family. Looking up at his still taller father with worry, he asked, "Assignment? What kind of assignment? Just reconnaissance, right?" The sparkling tried to tugged on his Father's police jacket but the hologram was just light, providing no resistance. "Its nothing to worry about," he said in a tone that demanded reassurance. He wasn't blind to the others' distrust of his father because of his past history and this was the first mission on behalf of the Autobots. Either they trusted him now or it was a dangerous one that they felt his Father was expendable for; just another Decepticon offline.

Barricade had never been so thankful as he was now for his Decepticon programming allowing him to lie, even to his own offspring. The hologram kneeled on one leg, to better look Ravage in the eye, and told his best lie, "Don't worry, little one, I'll be fine. Prime just wants me to use my authority guise to keep better tabs on the remnants of Sector Seven. To make sure that what happened to Bumblebee doesn't befall any of us, especially you sparklings. Frenzy will keep you informed on my whereabouts."

Frenzy nodded, staying by Ravage's side. He'd be damned if he let anything happen to his charge. Not only because Barricade would have his head, but he had grown accustomed to the boy and liked him as an older brother would, in human terms.

Sam looked over at Barricade, and couldn't help but shake his head, a small smile on his face. That was a scene to never forget. And Sam would always believe this, even though Ravage wasn't conceived in love, both his creators loved him and that was all that mattered when it came down to it.

Turning his construct's head, Barricade looked to Mumble and, presenting a small smile, asked, "I heard the mentioning of the game called 'paintball'. Interested in playing a few rounds before the day is out?" A sideways glance to Ravage had him smirking with his offspring, glad for the release of tension. These might be his last remaining days, might as well make them memorable.

Bumblebee was quick to access the web to find out what paintball consisted of, as any activity mentioned by a Decepticon had to involve some form of violence or explosives and he wasn't wrong. Pellets, or bullets, filled with different colors of paint to signify the origins of the hits made and only used enough force to produce welts or bruises on humans. A vibration simulating a hum came from Bee, as he couldn't see any possible way for Mumble to be damaged from this game and gave a nod of acceptance. Maybe he could score a few shots on the Decepticon before he had to leave, as a final farewell of sorts.

Mumble jumped up and down slightly in anticipation; this would truly be a game of skill and it would be amusing at that.

Meanwhile, Cera, who had resumed her position back on Ironhide's shoulder, listened in on the conversation and perked up immediately. "Daddy, if they let us play, you want to join? It sounds like fun!"

"Like I can refuse an excuse to use my canons," Ironhide commented, as he got up to take them to group.

Others overheard the private dialogue as well and, with the overhanging presence of battle, they all came to the agreement that additional battle training couldn't hurt, especially if it was safe to fellow comrades. Barricade noticed the attention and shifted his programming to encompass them all into the newfound game. Still using the hologram, he walked over to Lennox and inquired about necessary materials. "In the storage structure," he pointed to the barn, "I noticed that you had various containers of paints from your recent renovations of your main shelter," index finger shifted over to the main farmhouse, "and I wish to use them to create the pellets utilized for paintball activities. There should be enough colors to represent everyone interested. Is that agreeable with you, Lennox?"

Will nodded. "Sure why not, I'll go get 'em. Hey Cera!" he called over to his daughter, "Come help me with the paint cans."

Cera nodded and flipped off Ironhide's shoulder and followed her other creator to retrieve the necessary paint cans. "I call purple!! Purple's mine!!" She ran over to the barn lightning fast, causing Will to have to run and keep up with her.

"Cera! Chill! Remember some of us aren't as fast as you so you need to wait for me!"

Several minutes later the happy mini-jet skipped along with three paint cans on each hand, while the ex-Captain came following after with two cans in each hand. They were placed on the ground in front of everyone, minus the purple container, which Cera clung on too.

Despite being a weapons specialist, Ironhide wasn't too confident in the Decepticon's plan of using the gallon containers as ammunition but Cera looked too excited to voice his doubts. Instead, he just looked expectantly at the cop car, who was opening up the cans.

Comfortable with the position of an instructor from his years of teaching Ravage, Barricade easily fell into the role again as he expressed his plans. "Customarily, paintball involves the use of air-pressured guns dispensing out pellets filled with paint. As we are not in possession of these types of weapons, we'll have to improvise." He spent the next few minutes explaining how to format the weapons' systems to handle the liquid substance after suctioning a selected color up, and to use various Cybertronian chemicals to create a breakable shell for the paint, to create individual pellets. A reconfiguration of minor hoses used for the vehicles' anti-lock brakes to use for the propulsion system of the guns to insure the reduction of force if necessary, followed, where certain movements created the air pressure.

Test shots on the adults were performed next, with Bee shooting a pellet of pink paint from Annabelle's room smack dab in the middle of Barricade's robotic forehead, earning him a glare from the hologram that promptly disappeared. The still giant moved, as Barricade equipped himself with a peach shade of paint.

Mumble's chest shook in silent giggles before choosing the yellow paint of the shed for his color. Jazz took it upon himself to choose pastel blue, Cera took purple of course, Will chose green, Sam a dark navy blue, and Frenzy chose orange as his color scheme.

With the colors selected by the humans, Barricade designed rudimentary guns that had a limited supply of pressurized air from his own supply and filled the holding canisters with the small paintballs. He watched as Ironhide filled his weapons systems with sky blue paint, as Rachet, Prime, and Ravage did the same with the teal, rose red, and primer white paints. With everyone locked and loaded, the Paint Wars began almost immediately.

Everyone took their positions; most choosing places for cover, Mumble and Cera hid near the tree, not together of course but not too far off.

Will chose a safe shelter near his wife's rose bushes; she'd kill him for them being damaged but he would deal with that when the time came.

Sam hid at the side of the house crouched down all senses on alert, while Frenzy's was also behind a bush on the other side of the house- and lastly Jazz was near the many small hills with his weapons at the ready.

Though the game was suppose to be individual, habits and programming couldn't be ignored. Bumblebee kept a scanner or two locked on Sam and Mumble's positions, ready to act as cover fire for them or use his massive size as a shield, as Barricade ran through a similar code of programming with Ravage. Ironhide was no different with his child but felt that Will was fair game, being a soldier as well.

Optimus and Ratchet held no such loyalties and were free to shoot at anyone available. However, their considerable sizes made it hard to find cover and so the Cybertronians had to rely on dips in the earth and random pieces of farming equipment found in neighboring farms. This exercise would hone their targeting skills, rather than focusing on their strategic positions and advancing on the enemy, as is customary in paintball warfare.

The first pellet was shot by Optimus and because of his longer reach, was able to hit Jazz's leg peaking out behind the hill close to him.

Jazz growled in annoyance that he was the first to be shot at and quickly retaliated at Optimus by doing a nifty flip in the air; after all, if it wasn't in style there was no point in doing it at all, and aimed for Optimus' chest. As his shot hit his target, he was hit in the arm by none other than Frenzy who had popped out of his hiding place and was shooting like a maniac.

Had Frenzy been paying attention to defense rather than offense, he wouldn't have been hit in the chest three times in a row by a now flying mini-jet that had jumped out from behind the tree in stealth mode. But before he could retaliate he was hit again in the leg by Jazz and when he looked to find Cera, the jet had disappeared completely from view.

Barricade marketed on the exuberance of the others and got his own shots in on Jazz and Frenzy, with Cera almost fast enough to dodge his aiming system but he had calibrated it fast enough to mark her once with peach paint.

Bumblebee, used to compensating for his smaller stature, used some nearby rocks as tossed distractions and got hits on an inexperienced Ravage and an instinctive Will, who didn't have the necessary programming to differentiate the noise of a falling rock from that of a Cybertronian.

Seeing the peach paint on his child, Ironhide took that as an incentive to get Barricade at least once, even if it meant using up all his ammo. He tried to scan for gaps in the rusting tractor that the Decepticon had used as cover but the thing was too bulky to offer up openings. Instead, he dedicated a scanner to his location to notify him of Barricade's movements, while he focused his efforts on the others, in hopes of finding an opportune moment to even the score.

Ratchet, on the other hand, was biding his time, allowing the others to forget his presence and profit from their mistakes of overlooking him; a good one being the splotch of teal on the side of Ironhide's head as he was distracted by Barricade.

Lastly, Optimus, ever the believer of equality, focused his optics on those being overlooked either from size or human status and took care to cover them in as much paint as possible.

The volleys of rounds went on for nearly an hour before the dozen gallons of paint were exhausted and it was time to do a hit count.

Everyone, even if it was only a few shots, was covered in paint; some obviously more than others. Sam didn't have that many due to the fact that Bee had been there most of the time to get him out of shots heading his way.

Frenzy by far was probably worst off than anyone, covered in so much paint he looked like a giant spit out skittle that had all the colors mixed together.

Cera also had several shots on her, most of them came from the more experienced adults since they could track her speed even if it was just barely. She didn't care, however, as long as everyone, excluding her creators of course, had at least been shot at by her once. Even Barricade though that had been the hardest, and it was only by luck and help from Will who had distracted Barricade that Cera managed a shot on his arm.

Will himself wasn't too shot at either, since it was his ability to dodge quickly behind hills and bushes and his diminutive size that saved him.

Mumble was covered in purple paint more than anything, much to his dismay, but he had hit good shots as well so it didn't phase him too much.

Jazz rested against the farm side, the majority of his hits being from Ironhide, Ratchet, and Optimus who had taken no mercy on the small mech.

In celebration for the winners of the paintball contest, Ratchet suggested a repeat performance of his first meeting with power lines, leaving him feeling relaxed and what humans called, intoxicated. A perfect way to end the day, thought Ratchet, leading the group to a nearby transformer station next to a man-made lake, a bonus for cleaning purposes.

Downloading the mock-ups for a standard transformer and its weak points, Ratchet made the first connection, feeling a good-sized electrical charge zip up his wires and through his sensors, releasing the negative energy built up over the last couple of months through the transformer's state of being grounded. "Oh yeah, that hits the spot," he murmured to himself.

Sam and Will just sat there watching, big grins on their faces, this was going to be the funniest thing they would ever witness in their lives and they were not going to miss it.

Cera stood in between Mumble and Ravage, as they watched the older bots get "stoned", as the humans refer to it.

"Looks like fun..." Mumble idly commented as Jazz, who went after Ratchet began giggling to himself and bobbing his head to some imaginary music.

Cera nodded in agreement, "Ravage, you go first. Try it out."

Being the son of a cop, even an imaginary one, had Ravage well-conditioned to recognize peer pressure and familiar with the consequences. He looked up to his Father, waiting for the OK, and got one after a curt, "I'll try it first to make sure its safe for your size."

Scans were at peak performance, as Barricade recorded the reactions of those who had gone before him while he slowly approached the storehouse of raw electrical energy. Other than disabling the behavioral firewalls, there didn't seem to be any actual harm in making contact with the transformer.

Finally it was his turn. Sharp claws twitched in momentary hesitation but slowly moved closer, causing small sparks to jump from the structure to the claw and making his extremity tingle. Ground zero equaled to something similar to an E.M. pulse, his systems momentarily going offline before rebooting fully charged and eager to perform. Sensors seemed more heightened, to the point that if Barricade didn't control them, they would be analyzing individual particles of air, down the smallest atom, only to zoom out and focus on panoramic views of Earth's organic landscape.

Hours worth of information was acquired in seconds before he finally pulled his sharp finger away, breaking the connection and the after effects rippling throughout his systems for endless minutes. Coming back to himself, he looked down to see his expectant offspring and nodded in confirmation, with a single command, "Approach slowly and use only one finger. Let yourself build up to it."

Ravage nodded before being shoved by an impatient Cera in the direction of the exposed transformer. Approaching the only inanimate machine out of the entire group as if it would bite him, Ravage flexed the hand that would make the connection and stood motionless for a moment before slowly extending his index finger.

The first jolt was intense for the youngest of the robots, causing him to jerk back his hand before the resulting tingly numbness took effect. His sensors didn't register it as pain or damage, just a surge in his power lines, like what humans must feel when their adrenaline is rushing; the extreme alertness that allows them to be disconnected from their surroundings, even if its fast paced.

As with all short bursts of energy, there is the crash and it left Ravage feeling very mellow and relaxed. Turning back to his peers, he squeaked out, "Its intense but fun."

"Are you sure?" Mumble questioned uncertainly but was cut off from more questioning when Cera pushed him forward, causing him to trip and grab the power lines for support. He cried out at the intensity. At first it had been a tad bit painful because he had had too much for his first time, but after several seconds he began to feel, as he never had before. The jolts, rushing through his systems in such a pleasurable manner, had him giggling and seeing things he never thought possible, even his touch sensors felt everything in a whole new perspective. He had been scared but now he never wanted this strange sensation to end as he laid back on the ground occasionally poking the lines for more boost.

Sam's eyebrows shot up when his son had been pushed so rudely and cried out; he had even gotten up, but was held back by Bee. "Is he ok?" he asked the only Autobot who had yet to get high since he wanted to make sure his offspring was fine before getting wasted himself.

Bumblebee, ever vigilant of those he cared for, had been watching the scene intensely, first alerted by Cera's tendency to push and Barricade's earlier warning of small doses. Scans and tests immediately began as soon as Mumble had come into contact with the transformer, activation code for his arm cannon waiting to be sent to blow up the device should it prove to be too much for his son.

But he need not worry, as he noticed the subtle movement of Barricade shoving a talon into the nearest section of the transformer to relay the majority of the electricity to him and not to Mumble; red optics glowing in over stimulation of the sensors.

As soon as Mumble had enough free will to control the situation, Bee focused back on Sam with a simulated sigh of relief, "Yes, he'll be fine if a little dazed from such a large amount of energy."

Sam looked over at Barricade, hoping the bot would see his grateful smile at saving his son from...well he didn't know but still, to much of a good thing can be bad, for anyone, whether robot or human.

So far, the only ones who were yet to join in the fun were Bee and Cera. Bee for lookout purposes, lest they were under attack, someone needed to be functional and ready for anything.

And as for Cera...well it wasn't fear, no Cera feared nothing. At least that's what she told herself, but Cera wasn't stupid like some might think she was, just hyper. The only reason she had not joined in was because she wanted to observe and record everyone else's reactions before even bothering to try it out for herself. The actions of the others both intrigued and made her a tad nervous, so she went over to Ironhide who always offered a sense of protection even when totally plastered, and only put one tentative finger on the wire when she was next to him.

With the last of the robots enjoying the literal buzz, Bee continued to keep vigil on the surroundings until his optics landed on Barricade and Sam's two children. The Decepticon had separated the addicted Mumble from the transformer and was keeping his own private vigil, probably trying to hide the physical effects of the surge he had taken in place of his child to preserve his reputation. Ignoring the random giggle or overly loud chuckle from any of the other Autobots, Bee slowly made his way to Barricade, unsure of how an intoxicated Decepticon would react with an approaching enemy, and kept Sam safely tucked behind him.

Sam stayed carefully behind Bee, until the Autobot said he could stop as they walked up to Barricade.

Meanwhile, Lennox walked over to Ironhide, a digital video camera in his hand for later usage and began filming.

Like with humans, intoxication held the same effects over the robots, mainly in reversing their personalities by lowering inhibitions. Having survived eons worth of war, Ironhide had developed the masking program of a trigger-happy soldier but his true Autobot protocols were still existent and unveiled by the electrical surge. He curled around Cera, who resided in his splayed palm and still got frequent zaps, treating her like a stuffed animal.

The usually reserved pair of Optimus and Ratchet was huddled together and giggling madly, as this made jokes about Megatron 'getting told' by an adolescent human. And all of it was got on digital recording by the military captain, paints and giggles alike.

Humans really could be sinister, Bee thought in humor. Looking down on Barricade and the sparklings, he couldn't help record his own footage, as Ravage and Mumble drowsily made their way to the older robot's side to make themselves comfortable for an after-buzz nap. The cop car rumbled a little in protest but didn't do anything else to stop their advancements, begrudgingly shifting an arm to make room. Bee noticed that the limb twitched every once in awhile with electrical side effects, as he was sure that Barricade was focusing the rest of his efforts on keeping any embarrassing tendencies to himself.

Sam and Will chuckled to themselves in sadistic glee, oh they couldn't wait for everyone's reaction as they looked upon themselves in their sorry states.

Frenzy, who no one had paid attention to during the whole time, turned out to be a very angry drunk. Indeed as he recalled all the humiliation he had endured at then hands of a certain young sparkling currently curled up, and took aim and shot, not thinking of the consequences of infuriating the weapons specialist and his deadly wrath; not to mention the child herself, would kill if threatened.

Cera squeaked out in surprise as she was hit in the chest, knocked back to the ground, her body still too weak and her senses heightened from the buzz that the usually minor pain seemed to increases ten fold and whimpered in pain, forgetting to retaliate.

Jazz, who had been in a corner by himself bobbing his head, caught the scene and stood up to shoot the little pest, but could not keep his balance and ended up tumbling over his own two feet.

Continuously linked with his partner, Barricade chuckled darkly at Cera's pain, believing she deserved it after pushing Mumble into the transformer and creating some moments of pain for him. That should teach her to turn her back on a Decepticon, he thought. The antics of Jazz was just icing on the cake for him.

Bee's blue optics flared at the laugh and in a moment of irrationality, shot off a small ammunition charge at the slenderest of the group, knocking him off his clawed feet.

Sam's mouth dropped in horror, knowing the attack would undoubtedly end with someone potentially hurt, and clung on to Bee as best he could, in an attempt to get him away from the soon to be deadly Decepticon. "C'mon Bee...oh you shouldn't have done that, oh shit..."

Will glared angrily at Frenzy, as the saying went 'if looks could kill', Frenzy would be scrap metal by now.

Cera shook her head when she heard the dark chuckle and her eyes flared in anger as she jumped up into a fighting stance, her combat mode starting up, as her face plate slid shut and her canons flared up for battle. Without warning and with alarming speed and aim for someone in her state of mind, she transformed into her jet form and rammed straight first into the small Decepticon.

As she had hoped his tiny claws dug into her wing for support and without warning she shot up at least 70 feet into the air before doing a head dive straight for the ground. Once a few feet away, she transformed holding Frenzy by the arm as she planned to slam him into the ground at an alarmingly fast rate that would undoubtedly cause some serious damage. As soon as Frenzy slammed into the ground she flipped up in the air and began shooting at the immobilized mech.

Jazz meanwhile, who had been watching the whole scene in a daze, grabbed Cera and held her back from completely annihilating Frenzy and also to protect her in case Barricade decided to avenge his fallen comrade.

Even the simple mind of a human, such as Sam's, could see that the scene was turning serious in a bad way and it had to be stopped now. Not sure as to how Optimus would handle his own crew, Barricade disengaged himself from the slumbering sparklings before addressing his subordinate. He imprisoned Frenzy within the bars of his claws dug into the earth around the hacker and in a menacing Decepticon frequency, reprimanded the instigator, "What virus have you caught this time, Frenzy! I'm due to leave on mission in two days time, leaving my offspring and you alone in the presence of five grown Cybertronians and a hothead youth with more weapons than you. Ravage doesn't need this tension between the factions, not now. Give me one line of programming of why I shouldn't scrap you myself or better yet, let the jet finish you herself?" Red optics that had been faded from inebriation burned brightly with rage.

Frenzy was truly in bad shape, his wires half out and the sparks shooting into the air. He hadn't expected this, he had truly believed his Commander would take his side even if it was all his fault. He shook his head madly ignoring the pain that ran through his circuits. "N-n-n-no!" he cried out begging for mercy as he looked over at said jet that was fighting her way out of Jazz's iron grip to finish the job.

The Saleen transformer looked at the surrounding robots and the various levels of suspicion, remembering how truly outnumbered they were. Scooping up the injured Frenzy, he opened the chest compartment designated for the smaller Decepticon's travel and placed his comrade inside with the command, "Hook up and repair. I'll get us out of this situation."

Not waiting for a response, Barricade closed the chamber doors and stood up to his full height, anticipating any form of retribution. "As his superior, I take full responsibility for his actions and their consequences but I assume the more significant damage caused to Frenzy by Cera in comparison to the damage he caused her is enough to appease her warmongering nature. I would suggest that the pain inflicted to her is the same she inflicted upon Mumble when she shoved him towards the transformer, risking his safety with a power overload that could have damaged his wires' insulation and melt various metals. I would hate to think of what the full brunt would have done to him if I had not redirected the flow in my direction."

He gave Cera a scathing look for her incompetence and irrational behavior before looking to the once again solemn Optimus. "I hope this does not change the truce between us," he shifted his optics to look at Lennox and Ironhide, "my apologies to you. In the future, I will keep Frenzy away from the 'firewall inhibiting' substances."

Sam and Lennox sighed in relief that at least someone had put a stop to this before it got too out of hand and gave each other quick looks. Lennox nodded, accepting the apology and hoping the Decepticon would notice the look of apology for Cera's earlier actions against Mumble, who didn't deserve it, and her over-reacting to Frenzy's assault.

Cera had stopped struggling and shifted back to her normal state after Barricade implied that she was a warmonger that she took as an offense, not to mention the look directed in her direction.

Mumble had woken up as soon as he had heard his name, the after effects of the buzz making him slightly groggy. It was what the humans referred to as a hangover. He looked over to Ravage who had been awake as soon as his creator had shifted positions. "What happened?" he asked groggily.

Optics blinked in disbelief. "I think the truce had been put to the test," Ravage replied, staring up at his Father in awe. He had just watched his Father stand before five angry Autobots and putting his pride aside, along with his weapons, resolved the conflict, without being damaged. Turning to face Mumble, he added, "I don't think we're going to be visiting the transformer again, any time soon, at least not with Frenzy."

Mumble had the human equivalent of a small smile on his face when Ravage had replied to his question. "Yeah I bet. He's a bit hyped up enough without the extra juice, no offense." He added not wanting to insult Ravage's other family member.

Once Jazz had let Cera go, she looked up to see the disappointed faces of both of her creators and the others, and looked down in shame. She felt horrible about what she did to Mumble, it honestly wasn't intentional. As for the Frenzy thing, she could care less, one less Decepticon the better she thought icily, and besides he shot at her first and she simply acted in self-defense.

"I think you should apologize, Cera." Jazz stated quietly looking down at the sparkling solemnly.

"No offense taken," Ravage dismissed, "Father and I have a hard enough time as it is keeping him away from the internet cookies when he's hacking, which is almost all the time." Turning back to the scene before him, he felt bad for Cera and the situation she found herself in. It wasn't her fault, Ravage knew, but she didn't help matters with her short-temper and the mix of bad relations and altered personalities of the two parties. "I hope this doesn't hinder the healing rift we have between our families, Mumble. I know Cera has her sharp edges but you and her are fun to hang out with and I don't want that to disappear."

Mumble nodded in agreement, looking at the scene as Cera was getting reprimanded for defending herself against the psychotic little bot. "Of course not, I agree with you 110: the three of us hanging out is fun and I look forward to it, even if Cera plays a little violently. Though I apologize for my father shooting at your friend earlier..." he stated sincerely as Jazz sent him the scene that he had missed while he was re-charging.

Cera took a subconscious step back, looking at the adults in pure disbelief, "Fine I apologize to Mumble. I admit I shouldn't have shoved him, I was excited and lost my self-control for a bit." She turned her head sharply in the Barricade's direction. "But I REFUSE to apologize to _him_," she said the word 'him' icily as if it was a disgusting word to say. "I acted in self-defense and my actions are fully justified," she stated, crossing her arms.

Will shook his head sadly, "Cera, it's not nice to play devil's advocate, and that's exactly what you are doing."

Had Cera been human, her mouth would have dropped in shock. "I'm not playing devil's advocate!" she snapped.

Barricade looked around, as he spoke, "The sparkling doesn't owe Frenzy an apology, as he received what he deserved for his actions." He ignored Frenzy's squawk of protest and rested his optics on Mumble, "As for you, do you accept her apology, being the innocent of this whole incident?"

Mumble nodded, "Yeah, it wasn't a big deal..." he shrugged. He didn't like causing arguments and in general was a very forgiving guy, a trait he had undoubtedly gotten from Sam.

Barricade shuffled to face Optimus, "Then any further correction should be delegated by Optimus, as he carries the burden of the Prime title and is the leader of the Autobots. As for Frenzy, he'll be shown the error of his actions, even if I have to rewrite his programming myself. I don't tolerate insubordination too well and its occurrences such as these that are my reasons why."

Looking towards the setting sun, he added, "It is getting late and I'm sure Lennox's mate is missing her family by now." Barricade had every intention of getting his family as far away from the transformer and the source of his problems, before anything else could arise to add to the situation.

Optimus nodded to the Decepticon's words, agreeing to both his duties as leader and the lateness of the hour. He shifted to his vehicle mode, a signal for the other Autobots to do the same, as it added an extra layer of safety with the weapons out of reach.

Everyone transformed and began driving off, with Ironhide and Bee carrying their own humans of course. While Ravage and Mumble drove off together, Cera pulled up besides Ironhide, and began talking to him with the communications link they had, so Will couldn't hear their conversation unless Ironhide wanted him to. "...Are you upset?" Cera asked her creator quietly, after several minutes of silence.

Electronic breath wafted over the radio channel, as for once, Ironhide crafted his response carefully. "Normally, I would be very proud of you for defending yourself against a Decepticon, especially one that provoked the attack but there are situations you're not privy to that make this situation delicate."

There was a pause of static before he added, "Ravage is going to be staying with Sam for a bit of time and its going to be the first without the protection of Barricade, so he's going to be relying on his other relationships in the mean time. This includes both yours and Frenzy's. I know you two don't get along whatsoever but for Ravage's sake, don't try and provoke the Decepticon."

"I don't provoke him..." she grumbled, "At least not intentionally, and half the time he deserves it. And it's not like I haven't made an effort to get along with him! I don't get why I have to be nice to Frenzy, I'm only friends with Ravage and not that annoying little..." she trailed off, silent for a bit before continuing. "I don't see what relationship with Frenzy has anything to do with my friendship with Ravage."

"You're not torn between sides, like Ravage is. He is stuck in the middle between two factions who have warred with each for countless eons. And residing primarily with Barricade, his main source of relationships is his Father and Frenzy, who still see themselves as something not Autobot. I'm amazed Barricade is even willing to let him come in contact with us, considering the numbers and disadvantages. But I'm diverging. Its just that if Ravage see you two fighting, then he feels torn from not wanting to choose sides. You're his friend but Frenzy is his family of sorts. But don't worry, if I know Barricade, Frenzy will be too cowed to start another spat. If anything, he'll avoid you at all costs. Does this help clarify," he asked.

"Yes. I have another question...if Jazz hadn't held me back, I'm almost certain that in a blind rage, I would have probably killed Frenzy if no one had intervened...had that been the case, what would have happened?"

"Any number of scenarios, Cera," Ironhide answered heavily, not wanting to process the various outcomes. "The main variable is Barricade. Normally a Decepticon would have used that as an excuse to start the war again, no matter how futile it is for the Decepticon, so long as he took as many Autobots down with him as possible. However, Barricade isn't independent anymore. He has Ravage to consider, which makes his reasoning circuits very unstable, especially in tight situations of battle. If the Decepticon could reason long enough to see that Frenzy had started the situation and that you weren't yourself, he might not attack blindly and seek outside counsel. I'm just glad the situation did not resort to that because not even my statistic software can analyze that outcome."

Meanwhile Will sighed to himself, knowing that he was being left out of a conversation. "Hey you two, don't leave me out in the dark here, I have a right to this conversation as well," he said in mock anger. "So what am I missing?" he said trying to forget about earlier and keep everything light and simple.

"The anomaly known as 'Barricade'," Ironhide answered on a private line. He knew he was bias negatively in all things Decepticon and so he couldn't subjectively judge Barricade's behavior. He needed the advice from one who had experienced the life changing process of parenting a child to understand its personality changing ways and how much it could truly affect the Decepticon's intentions.

"Ah...I thought so...so anything I can comment on?" Will asked, judging by the way Ironhide said the Decepticon's name that he was pondering something and might just need the ex-Captain's advice.

A long moment of static was Lennox's only answer until the large truck answered, "As I'm sure you've noticed, the creation, or 'births' of the sparkling trio, is not a common method of Cybertronian production. But as Autobots, we are use to protecting and caring of others. I've simply modeled my guidance of Cera after your parenting skills with Annabelle and Bumblebee has merely added Mumble under his guardianship with Sam.

"But it is Barricade that baffles my systems. Decepticons are possessive and wish to own and control everything, believing it is their right. If Barricade is really using this upcoming mission as a way of reuniting with his fellow Decepticons than why not take Ravage with him? Unless he doesn't care for the sparkling and is using him as a diversion." Ironhide pauses, becoming lost in his questions. "I just don't know about that Decepticon. How powerful is the well-being of one's child?"

Will ran his hand along his head, "Well, Ironhide, I don't know how to explain this, I'm just going by personal experience here, but it's a pretty strong thing. Most parents would die for their kid, and make choices that they never would have made before. Like me, for example, before Annabelle was born, I was a major daredevil and party animal. I would do a bunch of shit that would endanger my life without caring, but then Anne was born and it wasn't about me anymore, it was about her, she comes first in my life..." he trailed off, smiling to himself.

Will shrugged, "Now I don't know what a Decepticon's train of thought and morals are like, so like I said just going by what I've been through."

"Then I guess we are left to wait until he betrays us and hope we are prepared for it." And Ironhide hopes that day never comes, for Ravage's sake.

"Wow, aren't you a bright ray of sunshine?" Will rolled his eyes and rested his head back against the seat. "Why so negative?" he questioned.

"I just don't like the idea of letting a Decepticon out of our sights so that he can return to his side, supposedly to spy on them. Just too many ways of this going wrong for our side." Ironhide's engine made a made a low, grinding noise out of frustration that ended quickly to prevent notice by the others.

Will nodded, "I see where you're going with this, after all you can never be too careful..." Will then remembered something he wanted to say earlier but didn't think it was the appropriate time for it. "Uh...hey Ironhide? Did you see that thing that Cera did to attack Frenzy earlier? The whole 'dropping him from the air to the ground' thing?"

"Yes. My scanners are constantly monitoring our surroundings should some danger present itself, its just with the affects of the electricity, I choose not to analyze what they present to me at the time. I saw what Cera did, I just didn't focus on it." Ironhide explained before asking, "Why?"

"I've been observing the kids' fighting styles, especially Cera's and I've noticed that she uses aerial fighting styles. How does she learn those if none of the other Autobots can transform into jets? I mean it was pretty damn impressive, although scary cause it looked like the impact was going to kill Frenzy, but still pretty cool."

"A gift from Ravage, I believe, after he got the files from his Father, who has had more experience with those possessing a flight mode," the radio answered. "The boy mentioned something of it being a 'gift of truce'."

"I see..." Will laughed, "I always wondered how'd those two ever became friends in the first place, especially after the whole 'Barbie car incident'..."

A loud crack sounded from the radio, as Ironhide snorted in recollection.

A/n: Thank for all the reviews!! Me and Musey feed off them so yeah XD MUCH MUCH appreciated.


	3. Intermission: Starscream isn't laughing

**Intermission: Starscream Isn't Laughing.**

Roleplay Fiction by Museofslytherin and **technodoofus**

Rated: Pg-13

_Italics_ means Flashback

_It had been Annabelle's sixth birthday party and the entire gang had been invited. After cake and presents, the kids, human and sparkling alike, had been allowed to play to burn off energy. Ravage and Mumble had paired up, having known each other longer from living in the same town since their sparks had come online, and so weren't inclined to let Cera and Annabelle join in._

Annabelle who had been used to getting snubbed off by icky boys covered in "cooties" as she called them, had wandered off to play with her new toys.

However, Cera had never been excluded from anything, not having been alive as long as the other children, and having spent most of her time with her parents who generally let her do whatever as long as it didn't hurt or break anything. The word "no" was not in Cera's vocabulary.

The angry girl marched up to the two boys, glaring at them, as she stamped her foot on the ground, and in an even voice stated, "I want to play too, and just because you've known each other longer and I'm a girl doesn't mean you can deny me my rights of freedom to play with whatever and whomever I choose."

The two sons of Sam stared at each other in confusion before shrugging their shoulders and turning back to the upset girl. "Um, okay, what do you want to do? We were just discussing what forms we would like to take as our alternate forms, since Ratchet just cleared us." Asked Ravage.

Cera squealed in delight as the boys acknowledged her. "So what are you guys going to choose for your forms? I've already got mine, I'm choosing a jet."

Ravage scoffed at the mentioning of the jet form, "There's no way the adults would let you be a jet. That's Starscream's form. You're not a follower of that psychotic scrap heap, are you?" He had long heard the tales from his Father about the traitor and usurper known as Starscream, who only cared for himself and not the Decepticons as a whole. "My Father would shoot you out of the sky out of habit."

Cera scowled, her voice turning icy cold. "Of course I'm not a follower of Starscream, and if anyone should be worried about being a follower of him it should be you. After all you're still half Decepticon and that's reason enough for no one to trust you or your father even with this faulty truce." She sneered, "And as for your father shooting me down, ha I doubt he could even target me with my speed much less actually shoot me."

Mumble gasped, "How could you say such a mean thing?!" He glared at Cera. "Ravage is as trustworthy as any of us, more so than you. After all he isn't the one shooting everything that moves every second of his life unlike you," he said quickly jumping to his friend's defense.

"I'm not ashamed of being a Decepticon. Before Megatron corrupted our goals, my ancestors were soldiers, who lived for war, much like the human Spartans of Greece. We had no need for philosophy and theory. We were not content to remain idle, as you Autobots wished to be. At least my Father didn't threaten to kill Sam's parents out of 'good humor' like Ironhide did," Ravage used his fingers to quote the words good humor. "I bet you couldn't even break the sound barrier."

Cera clenched her hand, and without warning shot a fist at Ravage's head, giving him a right hook, which caused him to fall to the ground in surprise at the unexpected attack. Unfortunately for Cera, the adults had decided to choose this moment to look at the children to make sure they were safe and caught the whole thing.

Mumble gasped and ran over to Ravage helping him up from the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Leaning towards Mumble out of comfort, Ravage narrowed red optics, "Just as unstable and unbalanced as Starscream." He looked in the direction of the adults and noticed that they were being watched. "I would get that temper under control before the adults label you as a Decepticon and treat you with contempt," he mocked. Turning to Mumble, he said, "Well, since she knows what she wants to transform into, she doesn't need to be apart of our discussion."

Mumble nodded in agreement. "Yeah, go blow something up, and please leave us alone," he muttered as they turned their backs to her.

Cera 'humphed' and walked away, with her head lowered in anger as she contemplated a way to get even with those idiotic boys for insulting her. Just as she reached the house, she stopped dead in her tracks as a plan came to her mind, and chuckled in evil glee, before running over to Sarah Lennox who was scolding Ironhide for nearly squishing her rose bushes for the third time. "Excuse me, Mrs. Sarah?" Cera interrupted, as sweet and innocent as she could muster.

With a final glare aimed at Ironhide, Sarah redirected her attention at her second daughter and immediately knew something was up at the sight of her innocent expression. Cera was too mischievous to be innocent. "Yes, Cera, what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering, if I could see some of Annabelle's old car toys." Cera immediately noticed the suspicion of her stepmother and quickly reassured her, "It's just so I can find some ideas for what to transform into...the boys said I couldn't be a jet." She pouted.

Sarah couldn't help blanching at the idea of a permanent jet constantly flying around the house, creating sonic booms and vibrations throughout the house. She had enough of that living on the military bases with Will early on in his career. That's why they had moved out into the farming community of California, for the peace and quiet. With the mention of alternate options, Sarah quickly jumped on the idea and directed Cera to the little storage of Annabelle's larger toys, where several of the small electric cars were for the toddler ages.

"Thanks." Cera muttered, and once Sarah was out of hearing she began giggling evilly to herself in sadistic glee as she chose two cars out of the small pile. The first one she chose was for Ravage who was going to be humiliated the hardest. So she took the small scooter/moped. It wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't have training wheels and pink stickers all over it, but that wasn't the worst, the worst was the pink unicorn in the back attached to the scooter.  


_Then Cera chose the pink VW beetle for Mumble. The car was covered in heart and flower stickers. The wheels were blue with yellow rims, making it one of the tackiest cars ever created by the Barbie company._

_Again, the boys looked quizzically between each other, as they watched Cera pull with her two of Annabelle's older toys, a pair of electric vehicles, and could only wonder what intentions she had for them._

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Mumble muttered, but shrugged it off as he looked down at the toys that he and Ravage were about to scan for their vehicle modes.

As soon as the boys forgot about her presence, Cera crawled over army style and hid from view as they began scanning. As soon as they scanned the first layer, Cera pushed the scooter and beetle in the direction where the boys were scanning their cars. In less than a second, both Ravage and Mumble had transformed -- into pink Barbie cars!

Cera laughed hysterically at the sight before sitting down wishing that she could transform into her dream jet. Suddenly, as if some deity had granted her wish, a Air Force jet flew over the house with the USA AF logo emblazoned on the side. Before she could miss it, Cera did a quick scan and transformed, pulling out at lightning fast speed, and proving Ravage wrong, by easily breaking the sound barrier as she blasted off.

The adults had been waiting expectantly to see the sparklings new transformations and were startled by the sudden appearance of self-propelled electric vehicles interrupting the scans, changing the intended forms. What would have normally been hard plastic was converted into Cybertronian metal but the colors remained the same eyesore as the originals.

Hearing the gasps and growls from the audience, Ravage, along with Mumble, shifted back to robot mode to take stock of the situation. Barricade's son looked down at his limbs and flinched at the pastel colors he now sported, not surprised to hear Mumble's similiar response. His Father was quick to come to his side, reassuring him that it wasn't permanent and that another form would be found to replace it. Unsaid to Ravage, was his Father's plans to Frenzy to upload as many virus, pop-ups, and cookies as he could manage into that upstart's programming in retribution, since she was too far to shoot at properly.

Autobot coward, he snorted, taking to the one place where she could hide in safety. Barricade settled his attentions on the other victim of the prank and felt uneasy seeing the gentler of Sam's two sons in near tears, despite being reassured by both fathers. For once, the Saleen vehicle was glad he wasn't the one to upset the Camaro because he could have sworn that the blue optics held a reddish hue to them.

If Bee wasn't consoling his son right now, he would be gunning it after Cera. As always, she took her revenge one step too far and ruined what was suppose to be a momentous occasion for the young sparklings: their first Transformation. It ranked right up there with a Jewish Barmetzfa and now it was tainted with a cruel prank, that would normally have the yellow car laughing at Barricade's son turning into a pink scooter. And to not even have the fortitude to remain here during the after effects of her stunt, its something he thought only one Decepticon would do, run and hide after a surprise attack. And it just so happened to be the same form that Cera had taken. Hopefully, it wasn't an omen, Bee thought.

The distraught radiating off the two sparklings quickly ended Ironhide's laughing fit, when he would normally be congratulating Cera on pulling a fast one on the Decepticon child. However, the lack of return and scanning a form that wasn't pre-approved began to irritate him, especially when he heard the sonic boom of Cera breaking the sound barrier. Vibrating houses and loud noises attracted attention, which they didn't need, especially with the military nearby. They were still looking for any excuse to expend Sabot rounds on the remaining Cybertronians for the unwanted war brought to their doorstep. A small, over-enthusiastic jet that still caused nightmares for some pilots is too much of a temptation in Ironhide's mind. "Cera, you have to the count of three to get your jets back here and apologize to Mumble and Ravage before the Air Force uses you for target practice and I 'okay' it," he told her via comm. link.

"B-but they deserved it!" She cried out over the communications link, "You're not serious are you? I can't go back there, at least for a while, until it cools off. Bumblebee and Barricade look like they're going to shoot me down at any moment! They'll kill me!" Even though she protested going back down, she slowly, very, very slowly, to save time, descended on to the ground, behind the refuge of a nearby oak tree.

"Then you should have enter those reactions into your equation of reasons for why this was such a good idea. If the parents are upset, how do you think Mumble and Ravage feel?" Noticing the his daughter's ruse of delay, Ironhide's tone become dead serious, "You know what you did was uncalled for if you're staying all the way over there, too afraid to accept the consequences of your actions. Cera, quit hiding before I come after you myself and switch off your transformation function before handing you over to Bee and Barricade."

"I don't care how Mumble and Ravage feel," she spat, as she walked over to her father, her arms crossed. "They offended me first," she scowled, looking over in Bee and Barricade's direction. The only emotions present were fear and defiance, not even a hint of remorse.

Ironhide shook his head in disbelief at his daughter's incomplete logic. "Cera, if you didn't care how they feel then you wouldn't have felt compelled to get revenge on them for offending you. Further proved by the fact that you chose to humiliate them in front of their loved ones. I'm very disappointed in you, Cera. This is not how an Autobot behaves towards its brethren."

Ravage looked up at his Father sheepishly, optics not exactly meeting his, "I may have commented harshly on her preferred form of a jet, since it reminded me of Starscream's but she opened the conversation with a standoffish tone." Looking away, he added quietly, "And I may have mentioned you shooting her out of the sky if she took that form, out of habit."

Barricade sent signals of reassurance and understanding to Ravage, finding no fault in his offspring's logic of defending his character and stating his opinion. Its no one's fault if the girl can't accept comments from others that are different from hers and she jumps off the handle every time someone disagrees with her. Taking into consideration Ravage's state of upset, Barricade offered, "Maybe its time we returned to Tranquility before we offend anyone else's delicate senses."

Mumble sighed sadly as he watched Ironhide reprimand Cera for her cruel trick, while Bumblebee comforted him by telling him that the proper changes could be easily made for him and Ravage to get another try at transforming into the original modes they had chosen. He truly didn't get it, although he knew he and Ravage hadn't exactly been as nice as they should have, this trick truly was cruel, in fact it was so horrible it seemed very Decepticon-ish. With this in mind he looked up at his father and opened a private communications link. "Dad...I'm sorry my first time transforming didn't go how we'd planned..." he stated softly, "I wanted to make you proud..."

"I am," Bee said softly, "besides the one minor hiccup, you performed a perfect scan and transformation, even down to the stickers." He joked lightly to ease the situation and to show that he wasn't upset with Mumble, especially for not being able to control outside forces.

Mumble giggled, but stopped abruptly when the cause of all this commotion walked up to him.

Cera stood there with her head bowed down angrily and looked Mumble straight in the optics before starting, "Sorry for ruining your first transformation. I went overboard as usual and if I wanted retribution for you being a jerk to me earlier I should have waited for a less important time." She sighed in agitation and turned to Ravage, "Sorry to you too..." She nodded curtly before turning around and walking off.

It was obvious there was nothing sincere about the apology and it was clear by the tone of boredom in which it was said that made it painfully obvious that she had been forced to apologize, and not because she truly meant it, and that irked Mumble more than anything.

For once, Bee and Barricade didn't mind each other's presences, as it allowed Mumble and Ravage to comfort each other with light conversation while still being in the protective shadows of their Creators. For the rest of the day, neither of the four had seen much of Cera and didn't bother to complain, figuring it was best to let the dust settle and emotions cool. The Lennox family made their official apologies that were easily accepted and taken to heart and spark.__

"Cera still has a ways to go in learning to pick her battles," Ironhide commented through the radio to Will, on Cera's past acts, "and hopefully we don't need Ratchet to physically alter her personality programming to achieve that."

Will nodded in agreement, "Yeah...though I don't know where she got the vindictive sneakiness from, and I'm pretty damn sure it wasn't you or me." He shook his head at the recollection. "Hey," he asked as he watched as Cera flew off to go play with Mumble and Ravage, "you know we never did figure out where she had gotten her original personality from when she was younger..." He idly commented.

"Maybe it was the confrontational manner you used with Sam when you needed to take the Cube to the building with the statues. The Cube could have imprinted Cera's spark with that as she is easily inclined to pick a fight no matter who the opponent is," Ironhide suggested. "It was the only time you had possession of the Allspark."

"So it's my fault?" he scoffed, "Well it does make sense..." he muttered before smiling again. "But whatever, the past is the past and everything so far has turned out ok."

Recognizing the ending of that conversation, the GMC truck covered a few miles in silence before tackling another corruption in his data tracks, "Barricade has decided to leave Ravage in the care of Sam and Bee. With two sparklings to worry about, he might need help and them visiting might address Cera's personality for the better. What are your thoughts?"

Will nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense, and I'm at least one hundred percent sure that Frenzy is more trouble then help." He grinned, "I wonder how Sam's mom's going to handle that little runt in her flowers? You know how she gets when even you get too close." Will chuckled, remembering the time he had been scolded by Judy Witwicky for accidentally stepping on her petunias.

"Don't remind me about Frenzy," Ironhide grumbled, well aware of the friction between the hacker and his daughter. "I'll just have to keep an eye on what sites he visits while they are over and try to avoid as many pop-ups and spyware as possible. Don't need him anymore hyped-up and paranoid then can be prevented." Easier said then done.

**A/n: Here are the link to what Ravage and Mumble were transformed into XD hehe bad Cera…**

**Ravage: ****http://i25. ****http://i25. **


	4. Then It's Hilarious

**Chapter Four: Then Its Hilarious!**

Roleplay Fiction by Museofslytherin and**technodoofus**

Rated: Pg-13

Several weeks had passed since the transformer incident, and everyone had returned back to their normal lives. Well as normal as a group of giant robots and their human friends could lead. Barricade had already left to join the Decepticon ranks to dig up as much information as possible, leaving Ravage and Frenzy in the care of the Witwicky household. Things had been going well for the first couple of days, but as soon as the little pest, Frenzy, had been allowed in the house for the first time, all hell had broken loose.

Bumblebee had immediately called Ironhide for assistance.

Ironhide had immediately responded to the message and had confirmed with Will and Sarah that it was alright for them to spend a couple of nights so they could let Judy Witwicky cool down after Frenzy nearly destroyed her living room.

Bumblebee hoped this was the right course of action and that it distracted Ravage from the absence of his Creator. As each day passed, the sparkling became more withdrawn despite Mumble's best efforts, to the point where he would sneak out of the Witwicky house to saddle up next to Bee, muttering something about 'the right size'.

A frantic Sam was surprised to see his youngest huddled under Bee's carriage, in sleep mode, the following morning after a fruitless search in the house. In the last ten years, the yellow Autobot couldn't find a memory file of a time when Ravage wasn't in Barricade's line of sight, let alone for nearly a month. Talk about a withdrawal, not even the familiar presence of Frenzy was enough to banish the tension in the sparkling's gears.

The day was nearly gone at the Lennox farmhouse and a monsoon storm off to the west was steadily approaching, promising a nighttime shower. Scanning the sparklings' actions at half power, Bee and Ironhide listened to Frenzy's nearly daily report from Barricade, mentioning any newcomers to the Decepticon ranks, possible plans Starscream has leaked out and other vital bits of information. It was quickly relayed back to Optimus in Tanquility for further analysis.

Meanwhile, the sparklings were under the large oak tree that had always been a sort of hang out for the three children, and were currently in the middle of the game 'Truth or Dare'. "Alright, it's your turn Ravage, truth or dare?" Cera asked.

Mumble and her had already had their turns and it was shown by the way the two were covered in leaves and twigs that clung on to their bodies from a previous dare that involved a cattle chase. Mumble nodded in agreement and watched as his half brother carefully contemplated in choosing his answer.

"I don't think I can manage your type of dares," he said to Cera, "so, I'll take Truth."

Cera would have stuck out her tongue if she had one. "Oh Ravage, have a spine...coward, my dares aren't that bad," she shrugged, "Fine, truth it is then. What are you most afraid of?"

Ravage shrugged nonchalantly at her 'coward' remark, realizing that to her, anyone not willing to put himself at risk no matter the reason is considered a coward by her standards. Instead he focused on the question at hand, "Currently, its my Father not returning."

Mumble visibly flinched, at such a sensitive subject being brought up, and quickly changed the subject, "Alright Cera, it's your turn. Ravage, you have to ask whether to choose truth or dare."

Cera jumped in excitement. There truly was no point in asking her what she would choose since she always chose dare. She'd rather put her life on the line, which she considered to be fun, rather than reveal her secrets to anyone, no matter how close they were to her.

After getting the unnecessary confirmation of a Dare, Ravage racked his CPU for a worthy challenge. "I dare you to...smack Bumblebee on the bumper and call him 'Hot Stuff.'"

Mumble fell to the floor in a fit of giggles, imagining Bumblebee's reaction.

Cera sputtered indignantly before nodding in confirmation and marched over to the adults. She looked around for Bumblebee before spotting him, listening intently to Frenzy. She sneaked up behind him and smacked his bumper, and as soon as he jumped and turned to look at her in surprise, she winked and gave a lopsided grin, "Hey hot stuff."

A crack of a metal and an internal signal of being attacked had Bee jerking in surprise. Turning around, he spotted Cera, wearing a guilty smile, and heard the other two sparklings toppling over each other in laughter. After his niece-of-sorts called him 'hot stuff', he looked up to Ironhide, who didn't dare make optic contact with him.

"Damn, didn't think she would do it," came Ravage's voice from the communications link Barricade had him create to keep a better eye on him. It didn't take Bee long to realize he was caught up in the sparklings' game and shrugged it off with a little nudge to Cera and a signal to Frenzy to continue.

Cera giggled and ran off to join the other sparklings, who were toppled over each other on the ground. "I am the queen of dares," she stated smugly, her hands on her hips.

Mumble, with the help of Ravage, managed to stand up, leaning against the tree for support. "I didn't think you would do it Cera. The look on your father's face is priceless."

"Yeah, that was a bonus. I just wanted to see Bee's reaction," added Ravage, in an excited tone. "So, I guess its Cera's turn again, if I remember the rules of order correctly."

Cera nodded, "Alright Mumble, this one's for you, truth or daaare?" she said dramatically, saying dare with extra emphasis.

Mumble weighed his options careful, and finally decided on a dare, knowing that if he picked truth, Cera would get annoyed and make him say something embarrassing.

Cera grinned, and got a seemingly harmless firecracker from her arm compartment where she kept other pranks and knick-knacks stored for times like these. "Alright Mumble, I dare you to put this behind my dad's foot and stay there next to the firecracker to see how he reacts."

Mumbles mouth dropped, "Are you crazy?! I'll be shot at!"

"Yeah, but he will miss you on purpose, Mumble," Ravage reassured his half-brother. "I'm pretty sure the adults know what we're up to, after the stunt Cera pulled."

Cera nodded, "Yeah Mumble I wouldn't put you in any real danger. I'm not stupid, ya know." She handed the firecracker to Mumble, and gave him a light shove in the direction of the adults. "Good luck." Cera waved behind his back.

Mumble gulped and slowly walked over to where the weapon specialist was currently standing, hid the firecracker behind his foot before lighting it and stepping a few feet back, preparing for the show.

Ironhide caught Mumble approaching them out of his vision but paid no heed, thinking the boy was just going to ask his father for something, so he was startled to the point of guns blazing when his sensors picked up a small explosion near his foot. Activated canons and weapons were instantly trained on Mumble, with a code of safety programming preventing his weapons from damaging that particular signature. "What the Pit was that?" bellowed an unnerved Ironhide.

Aware of the whole situation, Bee laughed at the seriousness of his friend's demeanor and quickly explained before the specialist could override the obstructing programming, "Your daughter set him up to spook you with a low grade explosive as a prank. No harm intended or done. Though I never thought I'd see the day of you being caught off guard by a civilian." Bee teased.

Mumble who had been crouched in utter terror when the specialist bellowed at him, got up when his friends stood by his side, with Cera laughing hysterically, leaning on Ravage for support, "Y-yeah dad, it's all in good f-fun!" She burst into another fit of giggles, nearly dragging Ravage to the ground with her.

Mumble sighed in relief that he had not been damaged, and that no one was upset, except Ironhide, but he'd get over it eventually.

A loud crack of thunder interrupted Ironhide's tirade of misusing explosives, only to be followed by the pattering of large drops of rain from dark clouds. Not being rain-friendly, the Cybertronians quickly ushered the sparklings inside the farmhouse before reverting to their waterproof vehicle forms outside to wait out the rain.

Mumble squeaked in fear, having always hated the rain, and clung to Ravage for protection. "I hate thunder..." he muttered.

Cera, meanwhile, had run off, not wanting anyone to know that she, Cera, the fearless little dare devil was afraid of mere thunder, and ran upstairs into Will's room, hiding under the bed, shaking in fear, and curled up.

Ravage patted his companion's shoulder plating in comfort, "Its okay, Mumble." Looking around the human dwelling for the first time, he spotted Sarah Lennox soothing Annabelle's fears but couldn't find Cera, instead all he saw was a trail of exhaust heading upstairs. "You want to see if Cera's alright?" he asked his sibling.

Mumble nodded, clinging to Ravage, "Yeah, I bet she's enjoying the thunder, trying to get out the window." He stated, not in a mean way, "She likes things that are loud...I wish I could be that brave." He sighed and began climbing up the stares with Ravage.

Sarah, having raised Cera, knew better and carried Annabelle after her wayward charges. She followed them, as they visited each room, calling out Cera's name and not finding her until they came to the master bedroom, her normal hiding spot during thunderstorms. Sarah was proud to see that instead of teasing her about her fear, they simply hunkered down themselves and crammed under the bed with her, like it was a common thing to do for a giant robot child. Tilting her head with epiphany, maybe it was. The height of the bed was relatively the same as that of a car's height from the road, depending on the car. It makes the past comments of the human parents finding their kids underneath their car fathers in the morning after a storm make sense.

"Got room for two more?" Ravage asked, on hands and knees, peering at Cera from behind the bed skirt he was holding out of the way.

Cera's optics glowed brightly in the darkness under the bed. They widened in surprise when no one teased her about her fear, and nodded, making room so the other two could fit under the large bed as well. "Y-you guys won't tell anyone about this...right?" Cera asked, her fear evident in her voice.

Mumble crawled under the bed and lay down next to Cera on one side, while Ravage got on her other side. Mumble wondered why Cera chose this particular hiding spot out of many other better ones, and had concluded that since this is where her other creator spent his time here on several occasions, it was as close to being near him as Cera could get when he was not at home.

"Naw," Ravage assured her, "I do this all the time with Father when a storm comes. The rain is actually soothing to hear as it bounces off his car exterior," he rambled in residual fear, becoming lost in his thoughts.

Setting down Annabelle, Sarah gathered the pillows from the head of the bed and tossed them onto the floor, within the children's reach, and ripped off the blankets and sheets to make a more comfortable area for her and her human daughter. She rearranged the bedclothes at the opening of the foot of the bed, so that she would face the sparklings when she lay down. "Isn't this cozy," she asked, staring into wide optics of two different shades of blue and a set of red.

Annabelle cuddled close to her mother for comfort, and shut her eyes, drifting off to sleep, lulled by the sounds of the rain pattering on the window.

Mumble rested his head on top of a pillow, grateful for the softness as preferred to the hard floor.

Cera held on to another pillow as well but decided to do a gutsy thing and clung to Ravage, in a semi hug, resting her head next to his chest.

Momentarily startled by the closeness, Ravage awkwardly wrapped the nearest arm around Cera, finding comfort in presence of the group.

Sarah smiled at the rare moment of silent companionship between the three and hoped that the storm wouldn't disturb it too much.

Mumble, although wanting the storm to pass, enjoyed the closeness and comfort his friends offered. He curled closer to Cera so her arm was around his shoulders in a comforting way so all three were snuggled up close together. Mumble and Cera both decided that this was a moment never to be forgotten and saved it in their memory banks.

"Sarah, can you tell us a story?" Cera whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment.

Rubbing her chin in thought, Sarah chose to tell Cera's favorite, filled with action and suspense. By the time she came to the ending, the glow of the optics had dimmed considerably, as they hovered between awake and sleep mode.

Mumble tried to stay awake, but his efforts were in vain and soon he was in sleep-mode along with Cera and Ravage who had fallen asleep minutes before him. And this is how they stayed for the remainder of the night, curled against each other for warmth, which made a picture perfect moment.

The loud crowing of a nearby rooster startled Ravage into awareness, only to find himself alone underneath the bed with all the bed items returned to their proper place. The dead silence of the upstairs unhinged the sparkling to the point that he blindly called up the location of Bee and bolted through the house and out to where the Camaro resided, as well as Sam.

Sam stared in surprise as Ravage ran to him, clinging to his waist as soon as he reached him. "What's wrong, Ravage, are you ok?" he asked worriedly, noticing the boy's fear, holding on to him tight.

Nanobytes worth of information flooded Ravage's system in response to the question, causing him to jumble his words together. "Came online. No Father, no Frenzy, no Mumble, not even Cera or Bee. By myself in a different place. Don't like being alone...not with him out there." Ravage shuddered, causing some joints to groan.

Sam rubbed the boy's back in a soothing manner, "It's ok, Ravage, you're safe; you're not alone; we're all here. Nothing is going to happen to you ok?" He hugged the boy reassuringly, looking up at Bee sadly. It must be so hard for Ravage, what with his father gone, in a new strange place, and the ever-knowing threat of Starscream. It was hard, Sam knew.

Though larger and mechanical, Bee's hand was no less gentle in its rubbing ministrations. He had not fully realized how sensitive the little Decepticon was in relation to others, not believing his 'evil' counterparts capable of other emotions besides hate and anger. He nudged his small charges closer to him when he heard Ravage complain, "Then where are Mumble and Cera," a small whine escaped, "If they were my friends they wouldn't have left me."

"Uh...I don't know...but I'm sure they left for a good reason. They wouldn't leave you on purpose. They're your friends." Sam reassured, now wondering where the other two had wandered off, finding it strange that Mumble had disappeared without a word to his brother. Cera always disappeared, it was no big deal, but Mumble was different.

Bee caught movement coming from the house, which turned out to be a worried Sarah Lennox followed by two confused sparklings and an equally confused Annabelle. In their hands, he saw sheets of coarse paper with random drawings on them; Annabelle having drawn simple pictures, while Mumble and Cera drew Cybertronian symbols. They were quick to see the upset scene involving the Witwicky family and rushed to discover what the source of the problem was.

Constantly in maternal drive, Sarah added her reassurances that she and the other children didn't mean to upset Ravage by leaving him alone but the others had woken up early, ready to start the day. She had corralled them into Anna's room and got them interested in the drawing supplies, planning on rejoining him but didn't make it back in time before he stormed out in distress.

Both Cera and Mumble nodded in agreement.

"We would never leave you," Mumble added.

"Yeah, we're your friends," Cera piped up.

Sam smiled, glad that his son had so many people to care about him, knowing that he would truly never be alone in the world.

With such overwhelming numbers, more than he's use to anyways, those around him soon reassured Ravage. He allowed himself to be pulled away from his larger family by his friends, who led him back to Anna's room to show him the fun to be had from drawing.

At the end of the day, Sarah had a surprise for the sparklings and it came in the form of a brown, floppy eared bunny that needed babysitting from the neighbors down the road who were going out of town for vacation. Used to human attention, L.C. tolerated the over enthusiastic petting from the three sparklings and Annabelle, who couldn't get over the cuteness of the animal. Sarah, along with Sam, kept a close vigil on the group, making sure the petting remained gentle.

Sam nodded, chuckling to himself at the amusing scene. "This was a good idea Sarah, the kids really like the bunny." He leaned back against the small porch swing where he and Sarah currently sat while watching the sparklings. "You just saved about several squirrel lives. They'll thank you. The kids were getting bored and Cera wanted to blow them up, even Mumble was willing to watch if it meant not being bored anymore."

"Its no problem, Sam, we usually look after the little guy once or twice a year, depending on how many vacations the Robinson's can fit in." Out of habit, she began a gentle rocking motion with the foot touching the ground that echoed into the swing, making it sway smoothly. "I'm all for the saving of the animals and I know how monotonous things can get out here. It was one of the perks that sold me." Turning to face the young man, Sarah asked, "You think you can hold down the fort while Annabelle and I run some errands in town?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, I think I can do it. Thank God that the kids aren't little monsters...I've seen some kids that are just...satanic." He shuddered at the memory, which involved his cousin and a plastic bat repeatedly swung in his direction.

Shaking her head in commiseration, Sarah reasoned, "That's just from lack of parenting and discipline in the household." She paused, thinking of Ravage's situation and what she learned from Ironhide about his other parent. "Though, I'm sure a strong morale foundation couldn't hurt. Anyways, we shouldn't be gone for more than two hours or so and if anything comes up, Bee can contact Ironhide, who can let me know."

Ravage couldn't believe at the softness of the bunny that his sensors were relaying to him, as he stroke the brown fur. And what was even better was the fact that it wasn't scared of him, allowing him to continue his ministrations. "Isn't he great? I wonder why they call him Lucky Charm?"

"He's so sweet, he's giving me cavities! And I don't even have teeth!" Cera squealed, extremely high-pitched, all the while making little cooing noises at Lucky Charm.

Mumble chuckled at the ridiculous saying before nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I expected him to be scared of us and run...this has got to be the softest thing I ever felt in my life!"

Glancing through a window at the clock indoors, Sarah jolted the swing with her sudden departure and darted into the house for a moment before coming back with a bag full of brown, small pellets. She stopped at the entranced group and offered, "Why don't you feed him while I make dinner for Sam and me?" The bag didn't last long in her hands, freeing her to return inside to work on a small meal.

Ravage scooped out a small handful of bunny food and set it onto the floor before the bunny. The shivering nose slowed down about, as if concentrating on a smell, and L.C. slowly crawled in a half-hearted hop over to Ravage's offered hand, stealing a few pieces before slinking back a bit.

Mumble smiled at the cute display and picked up the bunny, holding it close to his spark. Mumble could not recall any moment in his CPU when he felt more attached to an animal in his life. Even Mojo didn't compare, and he loved Mojo the cute little Chihuahua.

"Awww Mumble, don't hug L.C!" Cera pouted. "I want to hold him too!" she said, holding her arms out for the small furry creature.

Mumble clung to L.C, "No, I don't trust you with him. You're too aggressive and you'll break him!"

At these words, Cera let out a sound akin to a cry, "B-but..." her head lowered sadly.

Bee, who had been sitting just outside the covered porch, gently admonished his sparkling, "Now, Mumble, that's not fair to Cera. You need to give her a chance with the animal. She knows how fragile the bunny is and won't risk hurting him. Right, Cera?"

Cera looked up at Bee, nodding vigorously, "I promise, I just want to hold him for a bit!"

Mumble sighed knowing he would have to relent either way and carefully gave the bunny to the younger sparkling.

Cera held L.C with surprising gentleness that no one would think possible. "I love you Lucky C.," Cera whispered lovingly to the small creature.

With the high point of the night come and pass without casualty, the group continued to pamper the animal, while the humans ate on the swing. From then on the sparklings wouldn't leave the bunny alone, even when it came to retiring to sleep modes. When they went to sleep, L.C. was safely placed back into his traveling cage in the children's room, ready for the next day of petting.

When Cera awoke, before the others as usual, she crawled over to Lucky Charm's cage to let the bunny out and pet it for a bit before the others awoke. She was horrified to discover that L.C was missing. Cera didn't know whether to scream or cry, so she just stood still in a state of total shock before crying out. "Daaaadddyyyyyyyyy!" With lighting speed Cera ran out of the house towards Ironhide, who was currently in his car form, and jumped on the bed of the truck.

A light sleeper as a result of the war, Ironhide was instantly aroused from sleep by his daughter's shout and was prepared for the sudden mass jumping onto his bed. "What's wrong, Cera?"

Ravage, unable to sleep through Cera's shout, came online and quickly discovered the problem. Shaking Mumble's shoulder for a moment, he did a quick scan of the room to see if he could spot the escaped bunny but had no luck. With his half-brother in tow, Ravage went downstairs and joined up with Cera and Ironhide.

Mumble awoke to the scene in horror, and immediately began scanning as many places as he could for the small creature. "Where could he have gone?!" he questioned as he and Ravage went over to where a hysteric Cera was in the process of jumping up and down on the truck, while talking very fast.

"L.C's gone! He was there one moment and then I woke up to pet him and he's gone and I miss him! and-and ARGH!" she ceased her talking and stamped her foot in aggravation.

Ironhide was quick to settle the group down and get them focused on a plan. "Okay, he couldn't have gone far. Cera, I want you to get an aerial view. Ravage, take the area around the barn, while Mumble does the perimeter around the farmhouse. I'll do a larger circuit of the property in case he felt extra curious."

Mumble and Cera nodded and immediately went off in search for the missing bunny. Cera jumped off the bed and launched into the sky keeping an aerial view, while Mumble went off in to the farmhouse, searching every nook and cranny.

Setting his scanners to infrared, Ravage did a walkthrough of the barn with no results; the stray cats apparently performing their duties well, which made the sparkling worry a bit that they did their job a little too well. He redirected those thoughts into finding the missing bunny and scanned the outside area of the barn. Bugs and lizards were his only discoveries. With no L.C., Ravage returned back to the house to wait for further instruction.

Retaining his vehicle form, Ironhide rumbled around the property, sensors focused on the ground below. Minutes passed without much success and he was running out of area to scan. He couldn't understand why the rabbit would leave the security and comfort of the Lennox house, especially with predators lurking outside. Even Mojo, the small dog who had dared to lubricate his foot, would not leave the Witwicky property without incentive.

Without many more areas to scan, the children's hopes where fading fast, and a deep sadness filled their sparks, as they met up back where they had began after no luck in finding L.C. "It's hopeless," Mumble sighed, "He's gone..." He grabbed onto Ravage's arm for comfort as the thought of the soft fur and cute antics would've brought him to tears, had he the ability to produce them, so instead he just let out a low whine similar to a cry.

Cera, too, was trying to control the flood of emotions racing through her mind, as the thought of never seeing L.C again made her both want to cry and destroy whatever predator had eaten the small creature. It was obvious what must have happened. Cera's CPU racked through thousands of different options, which led to the most plausible being that L.C had opened his cage, escaped, and while outside had been eaten by a larger predator.

"Hey wait a minute!" Cera said, after looking back at what happened. "L.C's cage was locked when I noticed he was gone, and there were no holes or anything for him to slip through...so maybe he didn't escape and someone took him out!" She stated, hoping that this was the case and that L.C was not inside the belly of a vulture or some other creature that feasted on innocent little bunnies for dinner.

"There were no intruders," Ironhide quickly stated, mainly out of pride, "so no one outside the family stole the creature. Though Sarah did leave the house in quite a rush this morning, caring a medium size box littered with holes and frantically mumbling something about making it on time. She even took the sparkless vehicle. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Where's Sam and Bee, they know more about this pet stuff than I do?"

Last time Mumble had checked, both his fathers had been spending some, ahem, quality time together not too far off from the pond a few yards away from the farmhouse, and he hadn't seen them since. "They were busy last time I heard from them..."

Having had ten years to interpret the meanings of his friends' actions, Ironhide knew immediately what the 'busy time alone' meant and had no intention of disturbing them, not when he already had three upset sparklings to tolerate. "Well, I suppose there is one last resort. I can call Sarah via cell phone lines." As he was entering the digits from his commlink, Ironhide heard the familiar engine of the Lennox family car come up the long dirt drive.

The ignition turned off, leaving the white four-door sedan quiet, and a thrown-together Sarah emerged from the car. She stepped back to the rear set of doors and after opening the driver's side one, pulled out the recently discussed cardboard box. The woman walked over to the group and absently said, "Apparently three children feeding the bunny is a bit much," as she pulled L.C. from his traveling box.

Mumble and Cera both squealed in delight, nearly jumping for joy. Well Mumble nearly jumped anyhow, whereas Cera did. "I missed you, L.C! I thought you had been eaten by a buzzard!" She cried out, gently taking the bunny from Sarah so the three sparklings could pet it.

"Buzzard?" Sarah looked quizzically at Ironhide. "Apparently I missed something and you guys shouldn't have been worried about L.C.'s absence, I told Sam where I was going as I rushed out." Looking around and not finding Sam, or Bee for that matter, Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't want to even know, do I? I should just be grateful the house is still in one piece."

"Well, all's well that ends well." Cera sighed happily, handing L.C over to Ravage. "Yeah...I don't even want to think what would have happened if L.C really had escaped..."

Mumble shuddered at the mere thought, and quickly removed that thought from his mind forever.

Nodding, Sarah ushered the three sparklings back into the house so that she could show them the proper amount of food for a bunny of L.C.'s size, as per the veterinarian's instructions.

It was another hot summer day in the Lennox household where everyone was outside watching as the kids chose their holoforms for their first outing into the city of Tranquility. It had been Sam's suggestion that they leave the quiet desolate area of the farming lands for a little exploration and fun at the park. At first everyone had been a bit reluctant to allow the children to go, since this would be the first time they would activate their holoforms, and so many things could go wrong. But after a bit of convincing from both Sam, and Sarah who had thought it was a good idea, the others finally relented.

Mumble had chosen to go first and after several minutes concentrating on choosing his form, he felt the effects take place and looked at himself, as his mind created his human form and showed it to him. Mumble's hologram had dirty blonde hair that reached his ears and would spike up a bit on the top. He had blue eyes that were half covered by a pair of black shades. The clothes he had chosen were simple and fashionable at the same time. He sported a long sleeved yellow shirt with black trimming, a pair of jeans and boots.

Like Mumble, Ravage took on the resemblance of his robotic creator. He had longer spikes of black hair, possessing bluish tints in the sunlight, but was relatively short on the sides and absent of the white splotches at the temples. Small framed, black tinted shielded his inhuman red eyes from public viewing. A red striped shirt, blue denim jeans, cinched with a silver studded, black leather belt, and somewhat shiny black shoes finished off the human guise of Ravage. Running an organic appearing hand over the opposite forearm, he could feel his true metallic self beneath the light-created disguise. "Cool."

Of course Cera being Cera, she had to be totally outrageous and unique in everything she did, and could never look the same as anyone else. She had chosen a color for her hair that wasn't even a natural human color; purple. She had blue eyes, which were normal, but her outfit was just as unique as her hairstyle. She wore a long sleeved white buttoned down shirt, a jean mini skirt, light purple leg warmers, blue sneakers and a purple scarf.

But that wasn't the strange part, the oddity of it all were the large sparkly pair of blue and black butterfly wings that actually could move and lastly the matching antenna. "Yay! It actually worked!" she grinned joyfully, pumping her fist in the air. Her hair nearly covered her eyes, making one wonder if she could even see properly.

There was a flash of light that came from Sarah's digital camera, as she snapped a quick picture of the newly 'dressed' sparklings. "Finally, I can have a picture proudly displayed on my desk of you three," she beamed. She gave a quick hug to each child, careful of the real exteriors, and wished them luck on their first public outing.

Bumblebee and Ironhide soon had the three sparklings and Sam loaded up in them and ready to head out to the Tranquility Park. Due to the three-hour drive there, it was suggested that the holograms be turned off, as to preserve power and prevent a mandatory shut down to start charging procedures. Primarily, it was Ironhide with the sparklings and Sam with Bee, and this is how they arrived at the park.

The ride had been pretty long and uneventful, and it had been a relief once they had arrived in the park. The sparklings immediately activated their holoforms and jumped out of Ironhide, staring at the park for a bit in curiosity before choosing a respective section of the park to explore. Cera chose the swings whereas Mumble stalked off towards the monkey bars.

Ravage opted for tossing a Frisbee with Sam, not wanting him to feel left out. While the four played, Bee and Ironhide rested in the nearest parking lot and watched from a distance. The Camaro was expecting a report from Frenzy, updating him on Barricade's actions, but the little Transformer was unnaturally quiet and still, as though he too was expecting a report from a line that had gone silent for too long. Residing in Bee's trunk, the hacker exhausted all frequencies searching for his larger partner.

The infiltrating Decepticon had commented on Starscream's increasing suspicion of Barricade's loyalties and his questioning on the almost daily communications out-of-state. To subvert this, Barricade decided to cut back on the number, so that it was basically every other day. Today was such a day and an important one at that because it was planned to be Starscream's first milestone as the newly official leader of the Decepticon forces and attacks were planned for today. Finding great irony in having new arrivals meet up in Roswell, New Mexico, Starscream and Barricade planned their attacks for Santa Fe, the state's capitol, as their first statement of arrival to the humans. Neither Bee nor Frenzy had heard anything from that district and the Autobot wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

Sam meanwhile, ignorant to the happenings of the Decepticons, enjoyed a fun game of Frisbee with his son, enjoying the moment. The day was perfect; it was sunny, yet not scorching. A nice breeze blew through Sam's hair as he raced towards the Frisbee, falling over while trying to catch it, before quickly getting back up and tossing it to Ravage. "So how do you like the park so far?" Sam asked while still tossing the Frisbee.

After returning the toss, Ravage looked around momentarily before answering, "Its peaceful. I didn't expect it to be in the city."

As if knocking on the proverbial wood, a loud engine disrupted the silence of the nearly empty park and a baby blue truck drove by, slowing down as the driver took in the scene and recognized the pedestrians. The truck turned out to be the newest model of its breed, as it pulled into the parking lot where Bee and Ironhide resided, and the unforgettable features of Trent DeMarco appeared when he stepped out of his prized possession. "Well, well, isn't this a picture? Get stuck with the rug rats, Witticky?" smirked Trent.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Piss off Trent. Don't you have an Idiots Convention to go to, or did you lose your way again since even with pretty pictures you still can't read the directions?" Sam kept a wary eye on Trent, making sure not to let him know that he was afraid, but at the same time not oblivious to the fact that he knew Trent could easily win in the physical match.

Mumble and Cera had both ceased their playing and immediately focused their eyes on the man who had just pulled up, obviously with no good intentions. Setting up a private communications link with Ravage, Cera began questioning the sudden and unfriendly intrusion of this person. "Who is this guy? Doesn't look like a good guy...can I shoot him?"

Bee's suspension groaned at the memory files of Trent from ten years ago and he hoped the situation wouldn't become too serious because without completely outing his alien existence, there was nothing he could do. Though maybe a repeat performance of the used car lot was in order, he thought, slowly inching his tires towards the eyesore of a truck.

Ravage took in the situation quickly and realized that should he and the other sparklings intervene on Sam's behalf, the human would only suffer more later on, as the bully would seek out revenge. "Reaction is what he thrives on," he sent to Cera, "best to let Sam deal with this, unless it gets violent, then we'll separate them."

The ex-football jock snorted in false amusement, "And miss out on Daddy's Day Care? Not a chance. Its a perfect time to show the kids how much of a wuss you really are and maybe even get a little payback for senior year of high school. How you drove up to school in your new '08 Camaro, with Mikaela at your side, like you were some hot shit. Come on, tell me for real, you were only using her for cover to keep your sugar daddy a secret." He sneered as he came within inches of Sam's face.

Sam had to use the majority of his will power not to flinch and step back, and reverted to glaring coldly back. "Don't you have better things to do, Trent? Like I don't know, let's say, pick on some sixth graders. Yeah I heard how you went from picking on guys only slightly smaller than yourself, to kids who don't even reach your knees. So you're one to talk about being a wuss."

Disturbingly dead lines of communication crackled fiercely at Frenzy, who jolted in Bee's interior, and he immediately recognized the familiar channel of Barricade but was confused by the lack of dialogue. The static flickered periodically until finally stabilizing with burps of words making their way through, "On...way...help Sam...human threat...follow...directives in..." Suddenly, a list of commands appeared on Frenzy's view screen, beginning with the exit of the trunk and accepting the file being sent from Barricade. Popping the latch and slinking out, the hacker viewed around Bee's shuddering form and took in the human situation. Witwicky and a larger male were exchanging words in a heated manner and incongruence with his superior's orders, Frenzy began the walk that would have him in plain view.

Trent had enough of the verbal spar, since it wasn't really his forte, and resorted to tried and true methods: a good beating. He pulled back his right forearm in the beginning of a delivered punch and enjoyed the automatic twitch of the other man, as he prepared himself for the blow. However, the rebound aspect of throwing his fist was halted by a strong grip on the extended appendage, accompanied by the deep words, "Assault and battery is a crime, despite what those video games you kids play infer."

Sam bit back a sigh of relief, and nearly did a double take when he saw the particular officer that had just saved him from having his face implanted in his skull. At first he thought Barricade had come back early from his mission, but immediately realized when he looked into the cold blue metallic ones, instead of the usual bright red. However, Sam didn't care who was using the hologram, most likely Frenzy, and was just glad he was alive and intact.

Jerking his arm in protest to its restraint, Trent redirected his frustration to the newcomer, "And what's it to you? This is none of your business."

Frenzy tightened his grip, not caring if the metal fingers were too tight, and replayed Barricade's words, "I don't care for my child's babysitter coming to harm, especially not from ball-less wonders, such as yourself. And I'm looking for any reason to pummel someone after the week I've had of being shot at, rundown multiple times and dodging tons worth of debris." Still seeing the look of resistance, Frenzy redirected Trent's gaze with a grip on the human's chin and took pleasure from seeing the eyes widen in surprise at the presence of an officer's badge.

Sam's brow furrowed in worry, wondering if what Barricade or Frenzy was saying was the truth concerning the debris, being shot at, rundown thing. It worried him, he didn't know why but he didn't want anything bad to happen to Barricade even though he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. "Better do as he says, Trent," Sam stated simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which it most likely was at the moment.

Trent's eye twitched in doubt, "But you're a cop. You can't do anything to me without reasonable cause." Trent uncharacteristically babbled, unsure of his footing in the situation.

A shark-like grin appeared on the cop's face, "Yeah, but I just happen to be one of those pesky bad cops that use their impeccable records to cover up their indiscretions and shut up the victims." Nodding in the direction of the blue truck, "I'd start with impounding that piece of shit vehicle of yours under suspicion of drugs so the boys can take it apart piece by piece and leave it for you to reassemble. After that, you'll be given your very own criminal record." Blue eyes glowed slightly in glee. "And if I hear from the department that you've been harassing Sam again, even in the same neighborhood as him, I'll let my hacker friends have fun with your financial portfolio. Any further complaints?" Getting a dumbfounded shake in negation, Frenzy released the human and watched him scurry away towards his truck that quickly peeled out of the parking lot.

Sam cracked a grin and looked over at Barricade's holoform. "Hey, is that really you?" he asked hoping, but somehow knowing that it wasn't. But still it wouldn't hurt to hope, and Sam truly missed Barricade, for reasons unknown even to him.

Before Frenzy could respond, the holoform flickered a few times prior to a mechanical voice emanating a warning, "Status severe. Power reserves low. Additional use of holoform may cause harm to Spark. Stasis Lock required for repair to damages sustained." Without further preamble, the hacker was quickly exposed to the public, as Barricade severed the link.

Sam's eyes dropped sadly before he came to his senses, and threw the jacket he had around his waist on the hacker, and picked him up, though it was very difficult considering how much the metal weighed, and put him in Bumblebee's seat, getting in after him.

Ravage, knowing the distance limitations of holoforms, immediately understood that his Father was nearby and looked around for the unmistakable sports car decorated with cop colors. The boy's features fell when he didn't spot Barricade and when he saw Trent depart, was only too eager to question the holoform but that wasn't to be, as Frenzy took its place. He, along with the other sparklings, followed the burdened Sam to the waiting parent cars and waited for further details.

Bumblebee's disappointment at being denied the opportunity to damage the blue truck quickly vanished when Frenzy downloaded the coordinates of Barricade's location and was soon on his way after the sparklings loaded up into Ironhide. He left the residential area of Tranquility and soon came upon a junkyard, where he surprisingly came upon Optimus, Ratchet and a Barricade who had seen better days. The Saleen was prone on a rusting trailer, with the med-bot hovering over him and barking orders to his leader, who handed him various parts as needed.

Sam looked upon the scene in unmasked horror and sadness. As soon as Bee had stopped, he quickly got out of the car running to the Saleen's side. "Oh my- wh-what happened to you?!" he asked worriedly, looking from Barricade's optics, to Ratchet and Optimus for answers.

Bee transformed and took Optimus' place, so that the Semi could answer Sam's questions. Nodding in thanks, Optimus led the newcomers away from Ratchet's work area. "He confronted Starscream before the Santa Fe attack took place and battled the Decepticons loyal to him. He's suffered a great deal of damage but Ratchet assures me that he will make it, given needed time of stasis lock." Looking to Ironhide, he added, "Barricade mentioned a couple of Decepticons who were opposed to Starscream and wish to be apart of the truce that is between the two factions. Apparently they have no problem in helping the humans with their own wars, just as long as it fulfills their need for battle. I want you to question them and find out how valid their claims are."

Ironhide nodded in acceptance, having a secret knack for inquisitions.

Sam raised his eyebrows in shock. Well this was good news. Both the supposedly new recruits to the alliance, and of course the most important, being Barricade's recovery to health. "So this is good news." Sam nodded to himself, thinking over the possibilities.

The sight before Bumblebee made him thankful that the Decepticon was in stasis lock so that he wouldn't have to suffer while being repaired. Already he could pinpoint the dozens of welds littering the battered and scratched form of the cop car. The right shoulder had been dislocated by the look of the encircling weld, causing the wires and hydraulic tubes to be the sole source of connection. Bee could tell that Barricade had performed the reattachment himself, as the melted metal lacked the precision of Ratchet's quality; in other words, a battlefield surgery. Cables that had been cauterized from enemy weapons were reattached with a plasma tool. And Bee didn't even want to calculate how much of the various liquids he could see had leaked out onto the trailer and ground below there were. He couldn't even fathom how the injured vehicle had made it all the way here from New Mexico and instead, focused on the commands given to him by Ratchet. Barricade had come too far to go offline because he had screwed up, playing nurse.

Frenzy stood next to Bumblebee making sure the young Autobot didn't screw up in repairing his commander, while Mumble and Cera were currently trying to lead away the emotionally distraught Ravage from the depressing scene before them. "He'll be fine Rav," Mumble said, Ravage's nickname used in times like these. "Ratchet is the best doctor on the planet, he even said he'd be fine, so don't worry ok?"

"The repairs he did himself are most impressive. They're effective and clean, as though done privately and not during a war," Ratchet commented to himself, as his scanners looked for further injuries. Looking towards his audience, he added lightly, "With a little bit of training, he could easily take my place. Other than that, there is nothing else I can do for him that stasis lock won't cure. I figure it will be another few hours before he comes online." Turning to Ravage, he said, "You can see him now."

Nodding to Mumble's words, Ravage turned his head towards Ratchet's voice quick enough to cause whiplash in a human's neck and unconsciously grabbed Sam's wrist, dragging him towards the trailer-turned-operating-table. He carefully climbed onto the structure near Barricade's head and took in his healing Father's form before crumpling onto the uninjured shoulder, thankful for the solid presence beneath him.

Sam just stood there not really knowing what to do or say at the precise moment. His body spoke for him, so no words were needed. Hesitantly, he went over to Ravage and kneeled down next to the sparkling, placing a comforting hand on Barricade's shoulder all the while staring straight into his optics, a smile gracing his lips.

Hours passed in silence, as the adult Autobots devised a plan for the new Decepticons and the sparklings and Sam resided near Barricade, giving each other the needed support. No one saw the optics burn with a demonic light, as the Spark rebooted the CPU that reinstated all the functioning programs and activated all extensions, allowing Barricade to sluggishly raise the previously damaged arm and gently caress Ravage's curled form. "Deactivate all those who dare harm what is mine," came the deep voice, "Mission accomplished." The tone was tired but resolute, as if reaffirming to the speaker.

Sam jumped from his stupor in surprise when the silence had been broken. "Hey...how you feelin?" Sam asked, genuinely concerned for the father of his child.

"Drained," he said curtly, proving his point. Barricade lifted his sparkling up and rested him on his torso, over his healing spark, enjoying the connection it made with Ravage's. Petting his child's back absently, he prepared himself for the onslaught of questions he knew he'd be facing once he came back online. He started by sending a transmission encompassing all the details of his assignment to the Autobots he was connected with and turned to look at Sam. "I hope my artificial presence was enough to fend off that bastard for you in the park."

Sam's eyes widened, having completely forgotten about the encounter. "Yeah it did, thanks. That guy's such a -ugh!" Sam groaned not wanting to say out loud what he thought of Trent, in front of the sparklings. Though due to satellite internet, they probably knew more curse words than he did, but still it was the principle of the thing.

Barricade chuckled roughly at Sam's comment; glad to be back in Tranquility where he didn't have to worry about crazed leaders and betrayals every nanosecond of the day. Shifting on his makeshift bed, the Decepticon caught Optimus' gaze and said irritably, "The next mission better be in Detroit because if I have to see another souvenir of a big eyed, bulbous headed alien, I'm breaking the truce and coming after you. Just fair warning." Ignoring the group laughter for the time being, he focused on the sleeping sparkling on top of his chassis and couldn't help thinking that life was good.


	5. The Healing of a Sick Spark

**  
Muse**

Title – The Darkness Within  
Paring – Bee/Sam/Barricade; Ironhide/Will Lennox (past)  
Rating – Pg-13  
Disclaimers - All characters are over 18. Transformers aren't mine.  
Summary – The healing of a sick spark.

It was another average day at the Lennox household. Sam Witwicky, Bumblebee, Barricade and their sparklings had come over to escape Judy Witwicky once more, who was recruiting helpers to assist in her gardening. Sam and his sparklings' other creators had ventured off to have some more "alone time" leaving Ironhide to play role as babysitter once more, with Will for company while Sarah and Annabelle were at the doctors for an annual checkup. Meanwhile, Mumble and Ravage were in the middle of a simple game of tic-tac-toe, while Cera who had been acting...odd lately, kept to a corner by herself, near her creators, staring at the ground unmoving.

Ravage designated a square with his mark, unconsciously calculating all the combinations of winning, few as they were, and waited for Mumble to narrower them even further with his move. Always observant of his surroundings, he noticed that Cera had been acting strangely but since Ratchet, or even Barricade, weren't hounding her with tests, than he figured it wasn't a serious problem. Looking up from the grid of the game, Ravage watched as his half-brother contemplated his next move.

Mumble tilted his head, calculating the many possible options to guarantee a quick victory, only concentrating on the game at hand, and not his surroundings before making a large X on the board, in turn blocking one of Ravage's moves, and narrowing his options.

A string of future moves disappeared and Ravage quickly shifted his game plan, placing an O in a vacant slot. "Have you ever played chess? It's a more complex game, with the humans even creating a computer to compete against the best," he asked idly.

Mumble nodded, never taking his eyes off the bored, shrugging slightly. "Yeah...didn't interest me much. It was good enough at first but after a few games I lost interest. Also I found World of Warcraft...that was addicting for a while. It was pointless but really fun." Mumble grinned as he placed an X on one of the last vacant slot, marking his victory as he connected vertically with another Row of X's.

Red optics scanned the final layout, attaching it with the sequence previously enacted, and labeled it a failure for future reference. "Internet interaction, huh? That's nice but I prefer real human interaction, when Father permits it of course. To be able to watch the facial mannerisms and hand gestures, and try to compare that against what they're actually saying is intriguing."

"I agree, but it's funny to observe as people lie about their lives. Telling you what they want but can't have, so they pretend...It's fascinating that they just can't learn to accept their lives as they are." Mumble shrugged. "Oh well that's just them I guess."

"Those are the ones that believe Denial is a river in Egypt," Ravage added. "They wait for opportunities to come to them instead of forcibly creating their own opportunities." Analyzing human nature was always a hobby for Ravage.

"But remember not everyone is given much opportunity, there are some that are born into it with no hopes of leaving. What about them?" Mumble question, who like Ravage, found human nature a fascinating topic.

"Like a Decepticon still online after the war?" Ravage glanced over to where Ironhide and Cera were, remembering the times when he first came online. "None of the Autobots had reason to trust my Father but he didn't let that deter him. He fought for their trust and the stability of the alliance. People have hundreds of thousands of sympathetic hearts willing to help. If they can't find or create a better life for themselves than they don't deserve for 'opportunity' to be handed to them on a silver dish."

Mumble nodded, looking over to where Ravage was. "Can't argue with you there," he stated simply. "Hey...what's up with Cera? She's always by herself lately. I wonder what's wrong," he questioned, as his head tilted in the cute way of his when he was pondering something.

Slender shoulders shrugged, "I'm not sure. Maybe it's a 'girl' thing." As far as Ravage could tell, he and Mumble hadn't done or said anything recently that would piss her off, as that would usually resort in some form of physical retaliation. "If it was something serious that had Ratchet concerned, my Father would have been notified."

Mumble let out a small chuckle. Never really picturing Cera as a "girl", her acting too much like a tom-boy. "I guess...wait...why would your father be notified?" he asked raising an eyebrow, if he had one.

"Um, he has great stores of knowledge on Sparks and Cybertronian makeup," Ravage generalized last minute, unsure if he was allowed to openly speak about Barricade's connection to the Allspark. "He said it helped him to defeat his enemies and keep himself online while on solo missions. It only makes sense that he can reverse that knowledge for productive uses."

Mumble threw Ravage a suspicious look, immediately noticing the falter in his voice, which was never there unless Ravage was hiding something, but decided to let it slip. He stood up. "Well I want to go see what's wrong...that and there's nothing else to do..."

Folding up the sheets of paper used for the game and placing them in a storage compartment on his person before he could be yelled at for littering, Ravage stood up and followed after Mumble, wondering what he had in mind. After his father's return from New Mexico, tensions between sides had become nearly non-existent, with Ironhide even conversing freely with Barricade about the new Decepticons and military tactics but that didn't Cera would be inclined to burying the hatchet, especially in Frenzy's case. But if Mumble was willing to make the effort than Ravage wouldn't abandon his brother. 

Ironhide was more observant than the other Autobots gave him credit for, which is why he continuously scanned his sparkling, as her current behavior wasn't performing in its normal capacity but Ratchet nor even Barricade could find the reason. They could only advise it as being 'a result of human interaction and their mercurial moods'. It didn't reassure the weapons specialist but he couldn't argue with the experts and so tried to patiently wait out the "phase". While Cera remained nearby, he continued his discussion with Will about the Decepticons aiding in the various human wars.

Cera lifted her head from the ground as she noticed Mumble and Ravage walking towards her. What they could possibly want, Cera didn't know or particularly care at the moment. Things hadn't been going well with Cera lately. In the past few days she had been feeling...unsure of herself. As she browsed through the millions of definitions on the world wide web, the only thing she could find that fitted her personality at the moment was "emo". She wasn't suicidal, far from it. The thought of killing ones self disgusted her, and she viewed it as a cowardly act. Death was the easy way out.

Cera had been distancing herself from the group. For some reason the idea just came to mind that she wasn't liked. And not just by Frenzy, she could care less if the spastic little hacker hated her. However, she even felt that sometimes her own creators couldn't stand her. She had no reason to feel this; she hadn't done any of her cruel pranks or even acted out in quite a while.

"Hi, Cera." Mumble grinned, trying to get the mini-jet to be more social and less depressed. After all, they were friends.

Not having a reason to fear Cera's fathers anymore, Ravage felt more inclined to be tactile with their fellow sparkling and naturally came to stand behind Cera, leaning over to look at her upside down, and asked, "You're not a Mustang, so why the long face?" 

Cera's optics widened in surprise, and quickly looked up to see who had snuck up behind her. Whether she found the joke funny or it was Mumble's contagious laughter, Cera couldn't help but giggle. The first time she had laughed since her "emo attack". "Nice, Ravage," Cera rolled her optics, not in a mean way, just in a "wow that was so bad it was funny" way.

"Hey, don't knock if it does its job and gets the person to laugh." Ravage pulled back before he lost his balance and pouted, "And it's not like I had much material to work with." A red optic flickered out in an imitation of a wink.

Mumble nodded, "That's true. So what are you doing here all alone?" He sat himself down on the ground, cross-legged, facing Cera. 

"Nothing...just thinking..." She shrugged, her mood changing back once again into its more dreary state.

Mumble internally berated himself for his bluntness and lack of thinking before speaking.

Aware of a human's need for introspection and its slippery slope into depression, Ravage's demeanor shifted into seriousness, "Is it anything you can share with us?"

Cera's eyes narrowed suspiciously, contemplating how information much could be revealed. Or if it would be used against her, or told to the adults, so many possibilities with outcomes that where none too pleasing. "No." she stated flatly.

Mumble looked at her worriedly, "We're you're friends, you know that right? You can tell us anything." Mumble began playing his cards; in the field of emotions he was pretty good at helping people out, like his creator, Sam. Had be been human he would look to psychiatry for a profession.

Jerking back as if slapped, the young Decepticon put space between him and Cera. No wonder why Father can't help her, Ravage thought, she has to be willing to open up and neither Ratchet nor Barricade can force her. "Don't pressure her, Mumble, especially if she's not ready to talk," he looked over at his sibling, knowing there is a fine line between therapy and interrogation.

Cera felt a pang in her spark. Here it was again, the pain, the emotional pain that she had been keeping locked as it slowly builds up because of her refusal to ask for help. Before she could stop herself she muttered under her breathe, "Like you care anyways." It wasn't that Cera wanted to start anything, quite the opposite; she wanted to just be left alone in her own little world that she had built in her mind where she could just be without anything or anyone.

It was times like these that Cera wished she was a human, so she could cry and let it all out without having to feel weak because it was normal for humans to cry especially human females, but she wasn't, she wanted to be a strong fighter like the others, and these emotions of self doubt made her feel vulnerable and alienated from the others

Ravage gave a momentary "I told you so" look to Mumble before plopping down beside Cera with a heavy sigh. "I care and that's why I don't want you to feel pressured into talking to us. If you're not ready, that's okay, and if you are and we're not the ones you feel most comfortable talking with, that's fine also. If it's because we're 'males'," Ravage gestured quotes, "then I'm sure Sarah would be willing to help. Just so long as you know, you're not alone." He slowly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her the freedom to move in closer or to shirk away.

Mumble shrugged at the look, perhaps psychiatry wasn't his forte. Ah well there were other things in life, and right now he had more important things to attend to. He scooted over so he could be closer to the other two and sat there silently, hoping that Ravage had gotten Cera's attention.

Cera stiffened; she was so confused, she didn't know what was wrong with her. She wanted to be cured but she didn't want to tell anyone, she felt as if she was being torn in two, and the worst part was that she didn't know which way was the right way.

She leaned into Ravage, and before she could stop herself buried her head into his shoulder, her body shaking slightly in something akin to crying. Cera wanted to tell her friends, what was wrong but she didn't know how to word it. Then it came to her. she remembered how Bumblebee used to communicate when his vocal processors where broken, and had found a song perfect to show her feelings. She looked through Sirius satellite radio, and landed on the song she wanted almost immediate, and began to play it. Soon the beginning of "Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park began playing softly.

Will who had been silently listening to Ironhide while watching the sparklings with close observation, raised an eyebrow in confusion, when his daughter clung to Ravage and began to play a pretty deep song.

Ravage listened to the song and digested its lyrics, translating their multiple meanings. He came to the conclusion that Cera's spark wasn't balanced, originating from conflicting programs of personality, emotions and identity, and only his Father, with knowledge from the Allspark, could help her find peace within herself without resorting to a highly invasive procedure of reformatting her CPU. Tightening his embrace, he asked gently, "If you trust my judgment than I suggest going to my Father. He can help you to find clarity."

Mumble remained quite. Cera was opening up to Ravage, this was good, and he wasn't going to be the one to ruin it. However, he noticed Cera stiffen immediately when Ravage told her what she had to do to find herself.

Cera's optics widened in horror and she pushed away slightly, though not completely from the embrace. She shook her head violently. "Never," she muttered. Cera would rather face a thousand Decepticons on her own, with the inevitable outcome of death, then ever ask help of Barricade.

Ravage's optics dimmed in sadness when he heard the lingering distrust in Cera's response. He would try one more time to coax her down this path before helping her overcome the harder path her stubborn pride chose for her. "I can be the mediator between you two and you won't be alone while he helps you, Mumble and I can be there. Or even Will or Ironhide. Anyone that makes you comfortable because I fear if you let this tension linger within you, it will end up damaging your programs and maybe even your spark beyond repair. And I don't want that happening, Cera." Ravage looked imploringly at her.

Cera took Ravage's words to heart. She didn't know what to do, she didn't distrust or even dislike Barricade, and she just didn't want to feel...weak in front of him, or anyone for that matter. Her pride would not let her. Cera made her decision. She would rather face the consequences, she would face this alone and if it led to her demise, well then that was the path she would take.

The long silence from Cera was answer enough for Ravage and he couldn't even be mad at her because he knew pride was a hard trait to overcome. Unsure of what else he could do, Ravage gave a soft nod and pushed it no further, other than to say, "This option will always be open to you should you change your mind."

Cera nodded. "Your dad doesn't even like me. He wouldn't want to help," she added, looking hard at the ground as though it were its fault for all her current problems.

"Naw, that's just a personality glitch from all the free time that doesn't sit well with a Decepticon but I'm fairly confident Mumble's fathers are softening his rough edges." Ravage smirked at his brother, well aware of that trio becoming closer in recent months. "I could always dare you to ask Father," he said slyly.

Mumble shrugged, the news of his fathers and Barricade getting along "too well" was no secret to anyone. As soon as his brother had said the magic word, dare, Mumble immediately caught on to the plan. Cera could never resist a dare, even if it was one like jumping in front of a moving car (which she did once).

Cera rolled her optics, "I'm not falling for it. DO you think I'm stupid? And besides I bet your creators are too busy 'fooling around' somewhere anyhow." Cera scowled, "I don't care what he thinks anyways."

Ravage tilted his head in concentration, ascertaining his Father's location and status, and was pleased to learn that they would be returning shortly. "You're right, it doesn't matter what he thinks but your health is the key issue. I assure, when you're systems start to fail, it will be Ratchet and my Father tending to you, whether you wish it or not. And the fooling around is over for now." He pointed in the direction of the barn, highlighting the travels of the three humanoids, all wearing relaxed smiles and were walking rather   
closely.

"My systems are fine. It's just a phase..." Cera stated dubiously, as she stared at the three approaching figures.

Mumble grinned as he saw his creators approaching, hoping to spend some quality time with Sam for a bit.

"Suit yourself," Ravage said, getting up and heading towards the three adults. "Have fun you three?" Ravage asked jovially, smirking in a knowing manner.

Sam blushed, stuttering to find the right answer, embarrassed by the question, and turned to Bee or Barricade to take hold of the situation.

With a predator's smile, Barricade said curtly, "Naturally." He wasn't ashamed of the relationship with the others and had no problems discussing it with Ravage. Noticing that it was still just the two sparklings, instead of the normal trio, Barricade looked between the two and asked resignedly, "Still refusing help, huh?"

Mumble nodded, shrugging his shoulders a bit. If Cera was refusing help, no one could force her.

Sam sighed, he didn't get what was going on, and on more than one occasion had to reassure an increasingly worried Sarah Lennox that it was just a phase that the sparkling was going through, although even he was beginning to feel dubious.

Barricade sighed heavily, looking over at a distraught Sam and a worried Bee. Giving the human a reassuring squeeze, he broke off from the group, gave Ravage a comforting caress and closed the distance between him and Cera. He said nothing, as he came to stand before the sullen sparkling and gracefully took a seat on the grassy surface, crossing his legs. Resting his chin on the heel of his hand with his knee as a foundation for the supporting arm, he waited patiently while running fingers through the blades of grass.

Cera rested her head on her knees, completely ignoring him in hopes that he would take a hint and leave. She wanted to be alone. Why couldn't anyone understand that, she could deal with her problems on her own. Cera scowled deeply, getting more and more peeved by the second.

Feeling the tension coming off of the child in waves, Barricade kept his silence but started up a broadcast of a song in its middle on a low volume: _You're sick of feeling numb/ You're not the only one/ I'll take you by the hand/ And I'll show you a world that you can understand_. He still didn't make eye contact with Cera, continuing to focus on the grass.

Cera's anger vanished slightly, turning into confusion. She didn't know what to do, the confusion was mind numbing. A part of her wanted to accept Barricade's offer, knowing it would only make things better, but whether it was her pride or something else, it was preventing her from seeking help. Maybe it was part of her "sickness" but a part of her just wanted to be left alone. Quietly Cera replied with her own song, the volume low: _Like every tree stands on it's own, Reaching for the sky I stand alone I share my world with no one else, All by myself, I Stand Alone. Everything breathes, And I know each breathe, In my world there's no comprise._

The man smiled to himself, thankful for any response given no matter the form and, with Bee's help, searched through the various frequencies for an appropriate song to reassure Cera that she's not alone. _Although the names change/ Inside we're all the same/ Why can't we tear down these walls?/ To show the scars we're covering._

Cera contemplated the lyrics before biting her lip nervously. She decided to let Barricade know what she was feeling somewhat, not a confirmation that she wanted help, just a tidbit of what was going on with her: _It's like a face that I hold inside, A face that awakes when I close my eyes, A face that watches everytime I lie, A face that laughs every time I fall (it watches everything) So I know that when it's time to sink or swim, The face inside is here in me/right underneath my skin, It's like I'm/paranoid lookin' over my back, It's like a whirlwind inside of my head, It's like I/can't stop what I'm hearing within, It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin_

The dark headed nodded in understanding and encouragement. Red eyes glanced up, testing the waters, _just let me hold you while you're falling apart...you may need me there/ to carry all your weight/ but you're no burdern i assure._ The fading music shifted to something harsher in tone, _They say freak/ When you're singled out...Well it filters through/ So lay down, the threat is real..._ static noise crackled for a moment with the changing of the songs, _To heal, your fear...back to the previous station, clear your mind._ Fragments of another Chevelle song followed, _There's a burden within...This suffering/ That's kept within...Lost/ Inside he was negative...So look and connect...Healing has to begin in the past._

Cera finally looked up into Barricade's eyes; searching. Trying to find if he meant what he was saying. After several long minutes she began to play, never taking his eyes off of him: _I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems got to open my eyes to everything, without a thought without a voice without a soul, don't let me die here, there must be something more, bring me to life_ Cera shook her head, she understood the meaning behind his lyrics, but she did not know how to heal. It was at this moment that Cera realized, if she wanted to fight this- this thing- she would need help. _Blurring and stirring - the truth and the lies.(So I don't know what's real) So I don't know what's real and what's not (and what's not) Always confusing the thoughts in my head, So I can't trust myself_

Referencing the same band that started this musical dialogue, Barricade played his final piece as he slowly scooted over to sit along side Cera. _Trust me/ There's no need to fear/ Everyone's here/ Waiting for you to finally be one of us/ Come down/ You may be full of fear/ But you'll be safe here/ When you finally trust me/ Finally believe in me._ Holding out his hand to her, he quietly said with gentle confidence, "Connect with me and know peace."

Before Cera could second-guess herself, as the voice that had tormented her began to reappear in full force, she nodded and slowly placed her hand on his. She was going to face this, and thankfully, not alone.

Two sets of eyes flared momentarily, as the consciousnesses of Barricade and Cera retreated within, leaving the others to gaze upon motionless forms. Cera's core was chaotic motion of random blurs, bleeding out unchanneled rage and chasing away all codes of goodness. Shrieks and taunts echoed everywhere from more than one voice that sounded all the same, creating a choir effect and feeding off of each other. As Barricade took it all in without a flinch, he felt Cera crowd closer to him, shying away from her internal demons that were all too familiar.

Immediately, the Decepticon knew the source for all this turmoil and a pang of guilt struck his thoughts. Cera's spark was created at the precise moment that Megatron had torn Jazz in two, damaging his spark beyond repair and returning to its origin, the Allspark. Naturally, as all creators are want to do when experiencing the demise of their creations, the Allspark felt anger, pain, sorrow, and the need for revenge, all during the moment that Cera's spark came online, unconsciously imprinting its emotions upon the new life.

Coming to face Cera, Barricade knelt down to be eye level with her and more importantly, to keep her attention focused on him. "Cera, I know its scary right now but I need you to put it from your mind. I need you to think of something positive or pleasant, like your family or Mumble or Ravage. Anything that makes you happy. Can you do that for me?"

Cera nodded, "Y-yes." she muttered. It was easier said than done though, she had good memories, and many people she cared for, but these demons that plagued her mind were powerful. As thoughts of the ones she loved began to form in her mind, such as Ravage, Ironhide, Will, Sarah and all the others, a large black swirling mist began to loom over Cera, wrapping the darkness around her form that was desperately clinging to the things that made her happy.

Cera clenched her head, using all her will power to keep thinking positive, but as the mist began to whisper horrid cruelties, digging into her very spark, tearing it and ripping it emotionally she couldn't help it, as the thoughts she was trying to keep began to recede, and fail in its fight against the evil.

It didn't take much for Barricade to see that Cera was losing the battle by herself and that he would have to take matters into his own hands. He pressed a palm against her chest plate, connecting sparks, and, closing his eyes in concentration, sent out a wave of energy. White light tinged with blue flared out from the couple, the hidden marks on the Decepticon's form glowing with use, as tendrils of Cybertronian symbols shot in all directions. The ones that came into contact with the dark energy burned brighter in reaction, as energies cancelled each other out, and the others soothed the injured spark they were in. Violent emotions faded and harsh voices quieted, leaving tranquility in their place. As the final shadows disappeared with the brilliant return of a positive spark, tired eyes opened and a faint smile was cast in Cera's direction. "Feeling better?"

Cera eyes widened in confusion when the noise was silenced, leaving a tranquil atmosphere. She looked into the tired eyes of Barricade, and for the first time in a long while her eyes brightened in uncontained joy. Cera wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly, "Thank you." she whispered, her head buried in his chest.

Wincing out of soreness from exhausted energy, he returned the gesture with a light embrace of his own and took comfort in sensing the presence of a balanced spark. "You're welcome, young one. Now, let us return to our loved ones and get some much needed rest."

Cera nodded and soon both Barricade and her returned back into their bodies. As soon as she had regained full control over her systems, she cast one last grateful smile in Barricade's direction before running towards her creators, with her arms open wide, in a "hug" gesture before jumping on Will, clinging to him.

Sam walked over to Barricade, and knelt down, placing a comforting hand on his and kissing his cheek lightly. "I bet you're exhausted." Sam stated simply, sitting down next to Barricade.

Bee saw the haggard look in Barricade's expression and knew without a doubt that the session was one of the more trying ones. Following closely behind Sam, the Autobot came around to sit behind his fellow robot and pull him into a comforting embrace. He felt the tremors running through the form that were hidden by Barricade's clothes covering him fully and they were getting stronger as time passed.

Leaning into the kiss, Barricade's resolve broke as the final realization of what he'd just encountered hit him, synthesized tears forming. "So much hate...and anger. It was from the Allspark...me...when Megatron destroyed Jazz...we never felt so much anger...the need for revenge...and it was when Lennox had the Cube...and Cera came online. Oh god, Sam, its my fault. She suffered because of me...her spark ended up with my hate." He didn't have the energy to fight the desire to curl in upon himself.

Sam's eyes widened in horror, but not because of the news, which was pretty bad, but because of the anguish it was causing Barricade. Sam wrapped his arms around him in a comforting embrace, his hands running along his back in a comforting manner. "Don't say that, you didn't do it on purpose! It's not your fault." Sam looked him straight in the eye, confidence in his words.

Too tired to fight, Barricade nodded and gently nudged Sam into a sitting position, utilizing his lap as a pillow. The Decepticon felt fingers comb through his hair, the sudden presence of a loved spark at his back followed by the wrapping of an arm around his waist and soft lips touch the back of his neck. Probably sensing his spark's distress, he was aware of the Witwicky sparklings joining the healing session and occupied Sam's other side. Family and safe were thoughts that flittered through Barricade's mind as he slowly slipped into a recharge state.

It wasn't hard to overhear the unusual conversation between Barricade and Cera, though the depth of emotion conveyed by the lyrics struck him hard. Ironhide never would have imagined his sparkling's suffering to be that great if he had interpreted her song choices correctly. The larger robot was momentarily startled to feel his link with Cera severed suddenly and, gazing upon the group, saw Bee hover closely over Barricade's form without panic. It was a lingering half hour of reassuring a doubtful Will before sensors picked up movement and a pair of online signals, and Cera jumped to her feet, rushing towards them. Even a robot with his sensors disabled could tell there was a change in Cera's personality and it was for the better.

Will who had been biting his nails in worry during the agonizing 30 minute wait, nearly fainted in relief when Cera jumped up and with a whole new aura surrounding her, began running towards him and Ironhide. Will held his arms out as Cera tackled him in a bone-crushing hug. He could've cried in relief as he stared down and saw his child. She was different now, and most definitely for the better.

The whole week leading up to this had been depressing to say the least. He had begged Ironhide to figure out what was wrong, hell he had even gone to Barricade to try and fix his child. He had been only momentarily reassured, though not completely that it was only a phase that was to pass, but as soon as he had heard the odd conversation between Cera and Barricade he knew this wasn't a "phase". It had been more important, much more important, and now, hopefully it was finally over.

The usually stoic robot laughed at his daughter's antics and couldn't help but wonder how all this was possible. Ratchet and a cryptic Barricade had told him that Cera's symptoms couldn't be solved with a physical treatment and that tampering with the spark to cure its 'negative polarity' was too risky. It was Cera's fight to balance it but then why Barricade's involvement? Looking over at the unlikely healer, Ironhide was confused by the scene of consoling rather than one of congratulations. There seemed to be a somber tone lingering over the group that Autobot, human and sparkling were all trying to dissolve for the Decepticon's benefit. Ironhide focused back on his own family unit and asked curtly, "What happened?"

Cera looked up at her other creator, and shrugged, pondering whether to discuss this now or later. It was a depressing topic and she was in much too good of a mood. But, Ironhide did have a right to know, so she would tell him but not in detail. "We talked. Barricade and me went into my mind, fixed some stuff and well...here we are." Cera stated, hoping this explanation would be enough, for now at least.

"Inside your mind?" Ironhide asked distractedly, trying to decipher that meaning. Blue optics glowed brightly in recognition, as a realization was made. "Your spark, you mean." And such a treatment was on a metaphysical level, something far too advanced for even Ratchet's expertise. There's only been one being created by the Allspark that could accomplish such a feat and he was long believed to be a myth.

Ironhide and the others had spent millennia searching for him with little success and Ironhide couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the whole situation. They had feared Megatron discovering him first but the arrogant scrap hadn't even realized that the embodiment of the Allspark had been hiding within his ranks all along: as Barricade. The Code of Metatron had been right under the sensors of the greediest Decepticons without any of them being the wiser and now the Autobots had him as an underestimated healer. Shaking his head in bemused disbelief, Ironhide let a chuckle, "Once a Decepticon, always a Decepticon. I can't believe I was so blind."

Will chuckled, agreeing with the weapons specialist. Even he had his doubts when the Decepticon came into the group. Although now Will knew there was something extremely important about this particular Decepticon (what it was he wasn't completely sure). He grunted a bit, when Cera's hug started to become more of a "carry me" type thing, and that was physically impossible, even for the strongest human on Earth. "I can't carry you." Will shook his head, grinning down at his other little girl.

"It is good to have you back in high spirits, Cera," Ironhide commented. Seeing what Barricade had done for his family without expectations of compensation made the Autobot regret his harsher treatment of the Decepticon in the beginning days of the Alliance. He couldn't bring himself into trusting Sam's judgment about the cop car when the first arrangements were being made for the human father to meet his second son under Barricade's supervision.

Lennox had come to Tranquility when he first heard of Sam's abduction and was there for the unlikely return. Upon hearing the news of a meeting with the Decepticon, Will had contacted the military for extra security, still having strong hesitations towards anything Decepticon. It was only with strong oaths of not shooting on sight from all soldiers, human and robot alike, that Sam allowed their presence, claiming that it wasn't needed without much explanation.

Meeting at the local scrap yard, the cop car rolled up to the rendezvous point at slow speeds, clearly tentative but not fearful. Surround sound of guns being cocked echoed throughout the area when the driver's door opened and Barricade's holo-form stepped out, followed by a surprisingly intact Frenzy carrying a small metallic bundle.

Ironhide remembered clearly the red eyes that met and held his without any hesitation, as the Decepticons approached Sam and the ever-present Autobots. He admired his enemy's fortitude of remaining in the vulnerable car mode while he and his comrades were in robot form, guns trained on the innocent looking car.

All had been going smoothly, of Sam interacting with the newly online Ravage and conversing normally with a humane Barricade, but than the military had other plans. Lennox cried out an order and a shot rang out, sending some newly developed Sector Seven contraption Barricade's way. The force of the shot burrowed the device into the center of the hood where all of a Cybertronian's weak spots resided, causing the car to shudder violently and for the hologram to scream in pain, clutching at its head. The display of light flickered erratically and Ironhide could hear it mention Barricade's inability to transform, explaining the horribly grinding noise coming from the Saleen Mustang.

The prize captured and subdued, the military converged on the Decepticon without remorse, most from the Mission City assignment and had debts to settle. Ironhide was reminded of the time Sam protested against the government agency capturing Bee in the drainage canal a year ago when the human confronted Lennox in much the same manner, screaming about promises and broken words.

It would be weeks of various tortures and attempted hacks before Barricade was released, when no resistance was met and the military gleamed all it could from the bound robot. Even Ironhide had been sent to try breaking Barricade's unwavering silence but was repeatedly threatened by Sam to not harm him and that he didn't understand the situation. After that, Optimus had decreed that the Alliance was in effect and that Barricade was not to be harmed. Ten years had passed and Barricade had made no attempt to exact revenge, as all the Autobots had subconsciously predicted. And now the wronged Decepticon had returned his true Cera to him.

Will also remembered the incident and the government and immediately felt a pang of guilt. Heck, he himself had been a part of the whole operation, and it never ceased to amaze him that the Decepticon had never sought out revenge. And now, that his child was fixed by him no less, when he could have kept old grudges and straight out refused to help. But he did help, and because of Barricade, Cera was probably in the best state of emotional balance she had been in since her creation.

Meanwhile Cera let go of her iron grip on Will, and jumped up, grabbing a part of Ironhide's armor and using it to hoist herself up on to his shoulder, where she sat comfortably.

Petting his daughter's form in contentment, he looked down at Will and saw the same wash of regret he felt in regards to past treatment of Barricade. "I think we should do something for Barricade to show our thanks for his efforts," mentioned Ironhide, almost adding 'and in apology for bad first impressions.'

Will nodded without hesitation, "Definitely, but what can we do?" Will crossed his arms, leaning against Ironhide's leg, as he pondered what could be done to show their gratitude and as an apology for past mistakes. "So any ideas?" Will questioned, drawing up a blank.

A loud humming noise emanated from Ironhide's torso, as he thought out various options. "We can make a trip to Orlando to check out the amusement parks. If I recall correctly there's a military base aware of our existence that we can reside at for a few days while humans and passable robots experience the crowds. I overhead Bee mention that Barricade has a fascination with organic life and what's more memorable than giant Orcas with similar markings."

Will nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan. So when are we putting it into action?"

Cera grinned, "I wanna help." She nodded her head quickly in confirmation. She wanted to pay back Barricade for all his help in the best way possible. She turned on her purple haired hologram, which fluttered the butterfly wings excitedly, "I'm a passable robot."

Nodding at Cera's observation, Ironhide answered Lennox's question, "We'll have to talk with Optimus and contact the military base in Florida but things should be ready for transportation in a week's time. Now it's just a matter of picking the arrival date for the lowest attendance numbers at the parks. Not unless we can get the parks to close for military personnel and their families, out of appreciation or something."

"Sounds like a plan, I'm sure the military will close the park, especially since I have yet to let them forget what happened when they captured them...Keller feels pretty bad, so I'm sure they'll convince the parks to close." Will got up from leaning on Ironhide's leg, "So when do you plan on telling Optimus?"

"I want this to be a surprise so the first chance I get to talk with Optimus in privacy without drawing suspicion. I have a feeling that Barricade wouldn't appreciate the added attention and would try to diffuse the situation," he mentioned Barricade's desire for privacy.

"True..." Will muttered pondering how this whole thing was going to come into action right under Barricade's nose, without even rising a molecule of suspicion?

**Songs Used:**

1. (Three Days Grace "Pain")  
2. (Steve Perry from Quest for Camelot soundtrack "I Stand Alone")  
3. (Creed "Inside Us All")  
4. (Linkin Park- Papercut)  
5. (Rob Thomas "Ever the Same"; Chevelle "Red", "Comfortable Liar", and "Don't Fake This")  
6. (Evenescence "Bring me to life" and "Going Under")  
7. (Three Days Grace "Let You Down")

Please don't tell the local insane asylum where we are, 'kay? Thanks!


	6. The END

To all my fans,

I and Musey are no longer RPing. She got tired of our rp. I don't blame her, we were supposed to do a one-shot but it ended up being longer as all my RPs tend to do. The good news is however, that I have a new RP partner (SHE'S AWESOME) and we're currently working on an Iron/Will and Ratchet/Sam fic with a lil Starscream thrown in the mix. So keep an eye out.

Love, Techno


End file.
